Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
Bernie, Missouri – The Holcomb Hornets traveled to Bernie to sting the Mules on Tuesday, January 29th. Instead the Mules kicked the Hornets pretty hard causing them to end their 13 game winning streak.
“I thought both teams came out flat in the first half,” stated Bernie’s Head Coach Brad Botsch. “Massey really had his way with us in the beginning and I thought our kids were really trying to stop him. He is a very good player.”
Jamie Massey #32 for the Hornets scored 17 points for the Hornets as he dominated the court most of the first half.
David Baker #31 for the Mules was the leading scorer with 23 points. he had 19 of those points in the first half. B.J. Jennings #12 had 16 points along with Sam Turner #45 who had 10 points in the game.
“We struggled offensively and Holcomb did a good job on our guards. In the second half, we started finding our groove,” stated Botsch.
“I thought we valued each offensive possession much better and guarded every possession with focus and intent, explained Coach Botsch. “I didn’t start any of the seniors to begin the 2nd half, and hoped they would get the message. We depend on their leadership and experience to propel us, and they stepped up to the challenge in the 2nd half.”
Holcomb is a very good team and on any given day the tables could have been turned. They are extremely well-coached. “This was a good win for us tonight, but we will continue to push and work hard,” Botsch stated.
"They executed," Holcomb Coach Seth McBroom said. "You just have to tip your hat to them. They executed in the second half and we struggled shooting. We weren't very good defensively after we started missing shots and everything snowballed at the start of the third quarter."
The Bernie Mules and the Holcomb Hornets currently support the best records in each of their nine teams in Class 2, District 1, which Hayti won last season. Bernie is 2-1 against Holcomb, beating them in the championship of the Campbell Invitational Tournament and in the championship semifinal of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.
Final Score Bernie Mules 60, Holcomb Hornets 38 Bernie’s Varsity Record now stands at 18-3.
The Bernie JV team also did very well on Tuesday night. Ellenburg had an awesome night leading the JV team to victory with 33 points. Three players; Smith, Sparks and Trammell each had 6 points for the game.
The JV Mules have had an impressive year only losing one game to date. Their record stands at 18-1 on the season. Final Score Bernie JV Mules 60, Holcomb Hornets 40
Next round of action for the Bernie Mules is Friday night, February 1st when they will be celebrating “Homecoming”. They will be hosting the Notre Dame Regional High School Bulldogs.
Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
Dexter, Missouri – The Sikeston Bulldogs and the New Madrid County Central Eagles traveled to the Dexter Senior High School Tuesday in a dual with the Dexter Bearcats. This was the last home match of the season and it was Senior Night. Both
Damien Glasener and Logan Quertermous are graduating this spring.
While most folks were keeping an eye on potentially bad weather, many family and friends did come out to watch the high school wrestlers compete.
There were some really good match-ups between Dexter and Sikeston/New Madrid County Central.
"Q" as most of the students call him at Dexter High School had an awesome night of wrestling! He won by major decision over Sikeston Bulldogs' Braydon Reynolds 13-3 and then pinned Austin Cummins of New Madrid County Central in 3 minutes 10 seconds. Way to go!
Trever Waldner, a junior at Dexter High School also had an exciting night with his overtime win over Cody Middleton of Sikeston 14-12 in the 132 lb class. He also was able to pin Bryce Smith of NMCC in 3 minutes 42 seconds.
Storm Massey, a freshman at DHS won in the 126 lb class by major decision over Javeon Bonner of Sikeston 10-0. He also won by forfeit against NMCC.
The Dexter Bearcats were able to dominate New Madrid County Central and crushed them 66 to 18.
Unfortunately for the Dexter wrestlers, Sikeston was just too powerful and was able to control the score by defeating them 42 to 28.
Wrestling can be like a chess match. You have to use your mind to outwit the opponent and determine several moves ahead to determine the outcome of your position. Both the NMCC and Sikeston teams have tough athletes. Head Coach James Sneed and Assistant Coach Cody Boyer work continuously with the young men to motivate them ti give their absolute on and off the mats.
"The skills learned in high school wrestling teach those boys that we are responsible for everything we do in life," state Coach Sneed, "We have a choice in how we react to circumstances that we may or may not be responsible for. Every second counts."
The DHS Wrestling Team will be in action again tonight, January 31st in Poplar Bluff. They will compete against the Poplar Bluff Mules and the Cape Central Tigers. Match begins at 5:00 p.m. This is the last regular match of the season as Districts begin February 8th and the State Tournament is February 14th and 15th.
Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
Bloomfield, Missouri – The Bell City Cubs traveled to Bloomfield Tuesday evening to play the Wildcats on their home court.
“We played as good as half as we have all year the first two periods of tonight’s game,” commented Coach Jason Karnes, Head Basketball Coach for the Wildcats. “I thought we got a little sloppy and didn’t guard as well as what we could have the second half,” He continued.
Brett Ruch #21 scored 21 points followed by Austin Williamson #22 with 15 and Caleb Baker #2 with 11 points for the game.
With the Wildcats improving their record to 11-10 on the season, Coach said, “We are still searching for a level of consistency that will allow us to compete at a high level. Back to practice tomorrow as we have to prepare for a very good Puxico team!”
Bell City had two players in double digits. Jared Yates scored 20 points for the Cubs along with McKenzie Vires who scored 12 points.
Final score Bloomfield Wildcats 70 Bell City Cubs 52
Bloomfield Wildcats will travel to Puxico on Friday night, February 1st. Game time 6:00 p.m.
Jessica Snider, SMT Writer
Dexter, Missouri - Yesterday afternoon the Dexter Lady Bearcat Basketball Team hit the road to Jackson, Missouri to take on a private school, the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders. With both teams being highly ranked, coaches and players knew it was a competition not to be taken lightly.
Like every game, the Dexter Lady Bearcats take on the court determined and ready to win. No matter the competitor, their hard work shines through during the game.
In last night's regular season game against the Crusadors, the Bearcats handled it like they would any other game. Everyone knew it wouldn't be an easy victory to walk away with, but with the Dexter fans filing in the gym, the Bearcats knew they were highly supported.
In last night's match-up, many Bearcats were included as they worked hard to get the victory. The Lady Bearcats were not fearful of their competitor as they played great defense and offense for all four quarters.
Senior Brittany Harris came out very strong last night for the Lady Bearcats and walked away as the leading scorer on the team. Harris delivered 22 points for her team in last night's competition. Alison Jarrell also came out offensively strong as she contributed 14 points to the scoreboard last night.
After being up by ten at halftime, the Lady Bearcats came out in the third quarter and continued playing their same game. They kept a lead over the Crusaders and ended up taking the victory 61-52.
Congratulations to the Dexter Lady Bearcats on their victory over the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders!
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
"Bernie has a very good JV team. Coach Long does a great job with them and they came prepared," commented Coach Shawn Guethle of the Dexter Bearcats.
Guethle stated, "The Bernie pressure defense really frustrated us at times and we let them make a few runs."
Dexter had two JV players in double digits. Ethan Flowers #24 led the Bearcats with 13 points and Cole Renken #33 had 12 points in the game.
"Overall I thought we did a better job finding Caleb Ellenburg (#11 Mule) tonight unlike when we played at Bernie a few weeks ago, but he is a great player and finds ways to get involved." Bernie's Caleb Ellenburg seemed quite unstoppable with 24 points in the game.
"I was also proud that we kept plugging away and were able to close the gap a little in the second half. We play a lot of freshman on the JV team and this was by far the biggest atmosphere they have ever played in so I think it was a good learning experience for us." said Guethle.
Final Score Dexter Bearcats 46 Bernie Mules 53
Bearcats: Blake Horton 4, Austin Aldridge 6, Noah Kronk 4, Austin Chesser 2, Jacob Pediog 5, Ethan Flowers 13, Cole Renken 12.
Mules:Austin Beck 7, Matt Vernon 10, Caleb Ellenburg 24, Brandon Sparks 6, Devin Tramell 6.
The JV Bearcats will be back in action tonight, January 29th at the Bearcat Event Center. Game time 6:00 p.m. This is a make-up game with Puxico as it was cancelled due to bad weather a couple of weeks ago.
