The Cats struggled in the first half going 1 for 13 from behind the three point line. They caught fire in this third quarter as Allison Jarrell made two and Dakota Reynolds and Hannah Noe each had one.
Mollie Whitehead added two baskets late in the quarter to give the team a 70-33 lead going into the final quarter. With a running "mercy rule" clock in the fourth the Lady Cats finished with a 84-36 victory, moving to 14-1 on the season.
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.
Not long into the contest, fans could quickly see that that this was going to be a tight basketball game. Neither team could open up a large spread in the score with each of the first three quarters ending with Bloomfield having a 1-point lead at the end of one and tied at the end of quarter two and three (27 and 40 respectively).
Bloomfield looked to have a slight upper hand in the first quarter as Austin Williamson (6-points) and Thomas Sanders (5-points) led the way for the Wildcats. Caleb Baker hit a nice 3-point shot in the opening quarter, along with Austin Battles adding two free throws.
The Bearcats answered within one point of Bloomfield as Chase Young (6) and DJ Dowdy (4) delivered strong aggressive moves to the basket. Potts was very quick to spin from the high post and move down the lane to add 5-points for the 'Cats.
Both teams matched their defensive performances only allowing 11-points for the quarter. Bloomfield's Zac Good found an open area on the court, adding three back-to-back three-point shots during the quarter. Dowdy and Young both had a three-pointer each in the quarter combined with a couple of points by Potts and Jordan Miller, leaving the half time score tied at 27.
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Dexter spread the offensive game in the third quarter among five players. Zac Good for the Wildcats found yet another 3-pointer and Brett Ruch was able to break the ice on his offensive game. Both teams scoring 13-points, the game entered the final quarter with the score Dexter 40 and Bloomfield 40.The fourth quarter was a free-for-all as both teams worked hard to attack the basket. Brett Ruch lead the Wildcats with 5-points in the quarter and Caleb Baker found another 3-point shot late in the game from the right corner.
If you think that the time spent practicing free throws doesn't matter, double check that with Dexter Bearcat coach, Rob Nichols. His Bearcat team was 10 for 13 (near 77%) in the last quarter to win the game by a final score of 52 to 48. Bearcats' Dowdy, Potts and Miller were two for two while Chase Young made four of six shots from the charity stripe to help ensure the victory.
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"We didn't do enough things right down the stretch to be successful on the road tonight," commented Bloomfield's Head Coach Jason Karnes. "We have got to find a level of consistency between our effort and execution for us to be competitive in a tough stretch of games coming up for us."Bloomfield will return home this coming Friday to take on the Malden Greenwaves. The Bearcats will take their game on the road to Bernie.
Junior Varsity:
The junior varsity teams were equally a good match up of talent between the two teams. The Bearcats opened slowly in the first quarter, but powered back in the second quarter with 14-points to hold a 19 to 16 lead at half time. Dexter continued to expand their lead in the 2nd half winning the game by a score of 42 to 39.
Jacob Pedigo and Chandler Young shared the top spot of the scoring column for the Bearcats with 10-points each. They were joined by a strong performance by Ethan Flowers with 8-points, Austin Aldridge with 5 and Cole Renken with 4. Kendrick McCullough lead the Wildcats with 21-points. Cole McClard and Nathan Newell each kicked in 6-points, Nathan Vandiver had 4-points and Austin Bond had 2-points.
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Brittany Harris paced the Lady Bearcats in scoring with 19, followed by Allison Jarrell with 18 points. Paige Patterson added 17 and Hannah Noe rounded out the four players in double figures with 16. With the win, Dexter improved to 13-1 on the season.The Dexter girls basketball coach Chad Allen said the game plan was to attack Kennett from the inside-out from the get-go. "Coming into this game I knew Kennett was down a little bit from previous years," Allen said. "For the most part we knew they had lost a lot of size inside and we really wanted to try to get the ball inside. I thought Paige Patterson and Brittany Harris definitely finished real well inside."
Essex, Missouri - The Richland Rebel Basketball Team played another great game tonight. Both coaches and every team member left with a smile on their faces tonight. The team must still be on fire from their win on Friday night, January 4th, against the Bell City Cubs. Tonight, the Rebels played a fiery game against the Woodland Cardinals.
When the game first started, the Rebels easily took the tipoff due to senior Richard Forshee (#50), while the Rebels scored the first points of the game. The Cardinals effortlessly caught up to the home team, which made the crowd sit on the edge of their seats. This is the first game the Rebels have played against the Cardinals since last season. The Cardinals took the lead due to multiple fouls called on the opposite team. Woodland sunk each free throw with ease and ended the first quarter at 12 to 9.
During the second quarter, both teams struggled with their defense. Richland couldn’t seem to make a valid pass and the ball was easily swiped by the other team. Forshee caught many rebounds for his team but sophomore Marcus Grayson also snatched the ball multiple times and ran it down the court for a layup. With Richland pressing for tougher defense against their opponent and senior Nick Daniels sinking free throws left and right, the Rebels stole the second quarter right out from under Woodland. Halftime began with the score of 28 to 13, with the home team in the lead.
Every home game, the Pep Club (the Rebel Rousers) has agreed to have ‘theme’ nights. Tonight’s game was “Crazy Hair Day” and each member put on a wig or tied their hair up in various ways. Music and Band Director, Amber Duley, came up with this idea that makes each home game more exciting and fun for both the visitors and the fans from home.
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Aside from the Rebel Rousers and their undeniable school spirit, the Pep Band made another wonderful performance that was also led by Duley. The high school band, along with the junior high band, use some of their class time during the school day and donate it to Pep Band as they learn new songs that they think the crowd will know and enjoy. Tonight’s medley consisted of Proud Mary, Seven Nation Army, Another One Bites the Dust, and the Richland classic: Go Big Red./Richland Team Mid2.jpg)
After the Pep Band’s performance, the second half of the game began with the crowd excited and anxious to see the turn out. The game had previously flipped back and forth between both teams but the third quarter is where Richland really stepped up and secured the lead. Both Daniels and Grayson were having a fantastic night and the ball seemed to go into the net nearly every time they threw it. Sophomore Skyler Harper also made a great effort in receiving nearly ever pass and helping his teammates get closer to the hoop. The third quarter ended with a score of 54 to 30, which made the Rebel fans go wild.
During the fourth quarter, Richland kept a thirty point gap between them and the Cardinals. They held a strong and hard lead for most of the quarter but began to slip and let up on their defense while becoming a bit lazy with their passing just like the beginning of the game. Senior Jesse Barnes and Grayson helped get the ball back as they continued to score for the Rebels.
The Rebels took their second win in a row with a final score of 74 to 49. The team and fans are excited and hope to see another Big W at their next game on Thursday, January 10th, at Gideon. They are also preparing for their Homecoming Game that will take place on January 18th, in Richland’s gymnasium at 6:00pm, where the Rebels will be taking on the Zalma Bulldogs.
