Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Bloomfield, Missouri – There’s always one upset of the day and the award goes to the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders vs the Bloomfield Wildcats game.
Those who expected Saxony Lutheran seeded #5 to overpower the Bloomfield Wildcats who are seeded #12 were badly mistaken. The Wildcats wanted a win and they fought a great battle!
“We are a real young team and we know that,” commented head basketball Coach Jason Karnes. “Everybody kind of says, maybe you guys will be pretty good in a year or two. We use that as motivation and say why wait for a year or two, let’s be a little bit better than what we are right now.”
The Wildcats had three players ending with double digits in the first round of the tournament. Noah Vandiver #33 tallied a game-high 22 points, Triston Mitchell #34 contributed 16 and Nathan Newell #21 tallied 13.
Nathan Newell was the only Wildcat to score a trey.
“I think those guys are finally starting to believe in themselves,” stated Karnes. “We have had some really good practices and are probably as good as any group we have ever had.”
Saxony’s Jack Lake scored a game-high 19 points including one trey. Ryan Palmer was amazing at the 3-point line. He had 4 treys for the Crusaders and finished with 14 points. Zach Beal contributed 10 points and was 4 for 4 at the free throw line.
Saxony was leading Bloomfield after the end of the first quarter 20 – 11 and again at the half 33 – 19. It looked like Saxony had this one in the bag, but whatever Karnes said in the locker room it made a tremendous difference in the second half.
“We finally decided to play a little bit of defense. We didn’t think we came out and guarded very well in the first half or did any of the things we prepared for prior to the game,” stated Karnes. “We didn’t change anything at half time, we just started doing what we were supposed to do all along.”
By the end of the 3rd quarter the Wildcats not only gained on the Crusaders, but also held them to just 4 points. Bloomfield was able to score 17 points in the 3rd and decrease the lead to just one point, 37 – 36. The Wildcats stepped up their attack and scored 27 points in the 4th quarter to take the lead and defeat Saxony Lutheran by a score of 63 – 48.
“We would get beat off the dribble and we didn’t stay in front of the basket. In the second half we did a lot better job of containing the basketball and that’s where it has to start,” continued Coach Karnes.
Final Score: Bloomfield Wildcats 63 – Saxony Lutheran Crusaders 48
Bloomfield Wildcats 11 8 17 27 - 63
Saxony Lutheran Crusaders 20 13 4 11 - 48
Bloomfield (63) – Nathan Newell 13, Tim Fox 4, Jacob Clary 2, Noah Vandiver 22, Triston Mitchell 16, Alex Gibbs 6. FG 24, FT 14/18, F 17. (3-pointers: Nathan Newell, Fouled Out: none)
Saxony Lutheran (48) – Zach Beal 10, Ryan Palmer 14, Hunter Coe 5, Jack Lake 19. FG 16, FT 10/21, F 14 (3-pointers: Ryan Palmer 4, Hunter Coe 1, Jack Lake 1, Fouled Out: none)
Bloomfield will be back in action at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, December 27th to take on South Pemiscot. This will be game #14 of the tournament.
Saxony Lutheran will play Doniphan at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, December 27th in the first consolation game of the tournament.
