Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Bloomfield, Missouri – The #7 seed Dexter fought a first-class battle against the #10 seed Portageville Bulldogs. They defeated the Bulldogs 54 – 49. Way to go Bearcats!
"We had a good first half and then in the second half I think we got tired a little bit," Dexter head coach Rob Nichols said. "It said a lot about our kids, especially playing three sophomores, plus we play several juniors who don't have much experience.
Cole Renken #33, a 6' 3" sophomore had a tremendous game against Portageville. He earned a game-high 18 points. Peyton Pollock #12, a 6' 1" junior tallied 16 points for the Bearcats. D.J. Dowdy #11 registered 10 points.
The Bulldogs did not go down without a fight. They trailed by 16 going into the half, their 3rd quarter rally put them within just 3 points of a win. A.V. Banks tied the game with his free throw at 49 all with just 49 seconds left in the game.
D.J. Dowdy quickly drove the ball down the court and hit a basket putting the Bearcats on top 51 - 49. Bearcat fans were on their feet!
With just nine seconds left in the game, Cole Renken took a shot inside the paint to increase Dexter's lead to four points, 53 - 49.
"That was a big play there at the end," Nichols said. "We were expecting to shoot free throws and we never get to that point because we made a play and got an easy bucket."
A foul by the Bulldogs gave Peyton Pollock a chance to add another point and ensure a win for the Bearcats.
Final Score: Portageville Bulldogs 49 – Dexter Bearcats 54
Portageville Bulldogs 5 7 20 17 - 49
Dexter Bearcats 9 15 11 19 - 54
Portageville (49) – Fradreico Walton 9, Carlos McGee 6, Jaylin Mosby 6, Chris Garmon 2, Derrick Prigel 10, A.V. Banks 11, Caleb Gooch 5. FG 17, FT 11/15, F 18 (3-pointers: Jaylin Mosby 2, A.V. Banks 2, Fouled Out: none)
Dexter (54) – D.J. Dowdy 10, Peyton Pollock 16, Ethan Flowers 7, Chandler Young 3, Cole Renken 18. FG 19, FT 12/21, F 15 (3-pointers: D.J. Dowdy 1, Peyton Pollock 2, Ethan Flowers 1, Fouled Out: none)
The Dexter Bearcats will be back in action on Friday, December 27th at 8:30 p.m. when they take on the Indians of Hayti.
The Bulldogs of Portageville will play Van Buren at 1:00 p.m. in the 3rd consolation game of the tournament on Friday, December 27th.
Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Bloomfield, Missouri – Twin Rivers Royals entered the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament as a #6 seed and defeated the #11 seed the East Prairie Eagles.
Eric Ray #23 tallied a game-high 35 points against the Eagles and was the highest scoring player so far in the tournament. All of his points came from 2-point baskets and he was 7 for 8 from the free-throw line. Nathan Watson #5 scored 12 points and Andrew Mittlestadt #20 contributed 10 points.
Zach Underberg #1, Jase Worley #3, and Mason Douglas #24 each added a trey.
Twin Rivers led each of the four quarters and sunk a basket at the buzzer to lead East Prairie 67 – 43 at the end of the 3rd quarter.
East Prairie had three players in double digits. Damion Tipler #22 had a game-high 24 points along with Dustin Bryars #3 and Mack Marcum #11 who each added 10 points.
Dustin Bryars #3 tallied two treys for the Eagles. Seth Bays #2 and Deverance Jones #23 each added a 3-pointer.
Final Score Twin Rivers Royals 84 – East Prairie Eagles 58
East Prairie 13 16 14 15 – 58
Twin Rivers 21 20 26 17 - 84
East Prairie Eagles (58) – Seth Johnson 2, Seth Bays 5, Dustin Bryars 10, Brett Ellis 2, Mack Marcum 10, Damion Tipler 24, Deverance Jones 3, Brandon Evans 2. FG 24, FT 6/11, F 14 (3-pointers: Seth Bays 1, Dustin Bryars 2, Deverance Jones 1, Fouled Out: none)
Twin Rivers Royals (84) – Zach Underber 3, Jase Wroley 3, Nathan Watson 12, Chance Wilkerson 6, Jesse Robards 2, Andrew Mittlestadt 10, Eric Ray 35, Mason Douglas 5, Seth Snider 8. FG 35, FT 11/15, F 13 (3-pointers: Zach Underberg 1, Jase Worley 1, Mason Douglas 1, Fouled Out: none)
Twin Rivers Royals will play #3 seed Bernie Mules at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, December 27th.
The East Prairie Eagles will play Puxico at 11:30 a.m., Friday, December 27th in the second game of the consolation portion of the tournament.
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.
Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Bloomfield, Missouri – The Doniphan Dons came into the tournament as the #13 seed, but they played aggressively and gave South Pemiscot a good run. It was an intense game considering the South Pemiscot Bulldogs were ranked #4.
The Doniphan Dons kept pace and were capable of upsetting the Bulldogs. At the end of the first quarter they were only behind by 5 points. That’s not much in any basketball game. The Dons held their own during the second quarter as each team was able to score 10 points. Half time score South Pemiscot 25 – Doniphan 21.
The Bulldogs leading scorer, Jacob Trammel, led with a game-high 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Anothony Primer contributed 10 more points.
Wyatt Eaton #45 for the Doniphan Dons had a game-high 15 points. Lucas Moe #30 tallied 10 points.
Final Score: South Pemiscot 60 – Doniphan 47
Doniphan 11 10 13 13 - 47
South Pemiscot 15 10 18 17 - 60
Doniphan (47) – Clay Payne 6, Justin Harder 5, Brett Hale 5, Lucas Moe 10, Wyatt Eaton 15, Stephen Murphy 4, Seth Gettings 2. FG 17, FT 12/17, F18 (3-pointers: Brett Hale 1, Fouled Out: none)
South Pemiscot (60) – Jarvis Johnson 6, Torrance Shepard 5, Anothony Primer 10, Jcob Trammel 19, Glen Jackson 6, Anton Wilbourn 6, Contrell Johnson 8. FG 24, FT 6/15, F20 (3-pointers – Jacob Trammel, Contrell Johnson 1, Fouled Out: none)
The Doniphan Dons will play Saxony Lutheran in the first consolation game of the tournament beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday, December 27th.
South Pemiscot will play Bloomfield at 5:30 p.m. in game #14 of the tournament on Friday, December 27th.
Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Bloomfield, Missouri - The Bernie Mules began their bid for the title at the 57th Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Thursday.
The #3 seed Bernie Mules looked great and were confident on the floor as they defeated the Puxico Indians by a score of 72 – 38.
Bernie’s Bubby Schwent recorded a game-high 17 points and was 7 for 8 at the charity stripe. Jake Wagner sank a couple of 3-pointers on his way to a 12 point game. He was also 4 for 4 in free throws.
Both Caleb Ellenburg #50 and Justin Stanfield #15 scored in double digits. Ellenburg, a 6’ 2” junior recorded 11 and Stanfield tallied 10 points and was 2 for 2 at the charity stripe for the Mules.
Matt Vernon and B.J. Jennings each added a trey. Stanfield calculated two 3-pointers.
Corey Pratt was the only Indian in double digits. He managed to score 13 points against the Bernie Mules. He was also 3 for 4 at the charity stripe.
Final Score: Bernie Mules 72 – Puxico Indians 38
Puxico Indians 8 11 15 4 - 38
Bernie Mules 20 21 19 12 - 72
Puxico (38) – Ronnie Wegener 4, Garrett Payne 6, Corey Pratt 13, Austin Tiechman 4, Zach McCoy 2, Seth Luttrull 4, Zach Tucker 5. FG 16, FT 6/11, F19 (3-pointers none, Fouled Out: Tim Hancock, Zach Tucker)
Bernie (72) – Matter Vernon 5, Jake Wagner 12, B.J. Jennings 9, Justin Stanfield 10, J.R. Pregel 4, Bubby Schwent 17, Joey Walker 4, Caleb Ellenburg 11. FG 23, FT 20/29, F 17 (3-pointers: Matt Vernon, Jake Wagner 2, B.J. Jennings 1, Justin Stanfield 2. Fouled Out: none)
The Bernie Mules will be back in action Friday, December 27th at 7:00 p.m. as they take on the Twin Rivers Royals. This will be game #15 of the tournament.
The Puxico Indians will play in the second consolation game of the tournament beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, December 27th.
