East Prairie, Missouri - The Bloomfield Wildcats traveled Friday night to take on East Prairie and found the Eagles to be a notable contest.  After taking a few days off during the Christmas break, the Wildcats managed to put their game together and get the win over East Prairie by a score of 54 to 42 in varsity action.

"East Prairie really played us tough tonight," noted Head Coach Jason Karnes.  "We were flat and not ready to play from the start, and it showed."

Brett Ruch continued his excellent performance for Bloomfield and led all scorers by posting 25-points on the night.  Caleb Baker added 13-points for the Wildcats in the win.

Bloomfield dominated the first quarter of the contest but East Prairie battled back in first half to close the lead down to only 6-points.  Bloomfield led at halftime by a score of 26 to 20.

Both teams came out sluggish after halftime only posting 7-points for the Wildcats and 8-points for the Eagles. 

Caleb Baker was tested at the free throw line late in the game and was able to make five of six critical free throws during the fourth quarter. Ruch also got hot hitting one 3-pointer and three field goals during the final quarter.

The Bloomfield junior varsity team was also able to defeat East Prairie by a score of 62 to 29.  Noah Vandiver led the JV Wildcats with 14-points followed by Kendrick McCollough with 11-points and Austin Bond with 10-points.  The junior varsity team has a 9-3 record in the 2012-13 season.

The Wildcats had an excellent showing in their own Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.  Bloomfield defeated the Malden Greenwave in the first round of the tournament with an overtime win 58 - 56.  The Wildcats held Kennett scoreless in the final two minutes with Brett Ruch sealing the victory by traveling the full length of the court to deliver a swooping layup to win the game.

Bloomfield will continue their 2012-2013 season when they travel to the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter.  The Wildcats put their 8-5 season record up against the Bearcats' 2-5 record.  The Bearcats are coming off two regular season wins over Richland and Woodland and the game should prove to be a rival challenge for both teams.

(Pictures graciously provided by Jake Kreulen.  Jake is offering a collection of team photos from the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament with proceeds going to support 18 FORE Life.  Contact Jake via his Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/jakekreulen?ref=ts&fref=ts)