Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer

Bernie, Missouri – The Caruthersville Tigers defeated the Bernie Mules with an overwhelming lead of over 20 points.  The Tigers were in front of a home crowd and the state-ranked Mules could not overpower them.  Final score was 76-54.

Bernie Mules coach Brad Botsch said, “We had a real disappointing effort tonight.  I thought we came in with a good game plan and a good idea on how to beat them, but we simply didn’t execute and thus got our tails whipped.”

Caruthersville outscored the Mules in each quarter and were leading 36-27 at the half.  The Tigers just simply dominated Bernie even though the Mules have a well-coached team and disciplined.  They typically don’t give up points.

Bernie Forward Joey Walker had a team high of 18 points along with David Bake who made 14 points on the evening.  The Tigers had five players in double digits with Jamal Johnson leading with 20 points.  The Tigers also utilized him on 3-pointers as he made four of the five during the game. 

“We were noncompetitive much of the night, and we have zero chance to beat a good team when we don’t compete as hard as we can all the time,” stated Botsch.  Back in February of 2012 Caruthersville dominated Bernie as well.  This is a tough team to beat and the Mules are going to have to extra hard for the next  one. 

BERNIE (54) - Troy Kirkpatrick 4, Justin Stanfield 4, J.R. Pregel 6, Bubby Schwent 3, David Baker 14, Joey Walker 18, Brad Freed 5. FG 25, FT 4/7, F 7. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

CARUTHERSVILLE (76) - Jamal Johnson 20, Steve Rodgers 17, Cortez Gooden 10, Coleman Tramble 13, Darrell Monroe 13, Tyler Grissom 3. FG 34, FT 3/8, F 14. (3-pointers: Johnson 4, Rodgers 1. Fouled out: none)

Bernie now has their second loss placing them 12-2 on the season and will host Dexter this Friday, January 11, 2013.  This should be a great game between the two rivalries.