Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Dexter, Missouri – They were down in every quarter, but the Bernie Mules would not go away easily. It took everything they had to escape victorious over the Puxico Indians. Fans of both team were on their feet as every ball went up. Silence fell when a ball would not go in and from the bleachers you could hear “get the ball, get the rebound”!
“It was a real grind,” commented Bernie’s head coach Brad Botsch, “this is the third time we have played and these guys are a completely different team this time from what we had before. It came down to possessions and something we talk about a lot is just valuing every possession and luckily we outplayed them one more possession than they did us.”
It was J.R. Pregel #22 who hit back-to-back free throws to get the Mules on top 60-58 with just under 20 seconds left on the clock.
“I remember looking right at him and saying ‘J.R. we’ve got to have a board’. We were awfully small all night on the floor. Joey Walker got into foul trouble and Caleb Ellenburg is out,” continued Botsch. “They really hurt us on the glass all night, but that was a big rebound by J.R. down the stretch. He stepped up and made two big ones tonight.”
B.J. Jennings led the Mules with a team-high 16 points including one 3-pointers. Jake Wagner and Justin Stanfield added 10 each. Wagner had one trey and Stanfield added two 3-pointers. Matton Vernon scored all of his points with two treys. Devin Trammell also hit a trey for the Mules.
“Tough, grind it out type win for us. Having beaten Puxico pretty handily two times earlier this year, I knew it was going to be pretty hard to motivate our kids and understand that they were playing better and we better get ready for a battle.
"We did just enough to win," continued Botsch. "We toughened up when we needed it the most and hung on. Sometimes you win ugly and just survive, it’s just part of it. I think our guys got a wake-up call, and hopefully we’ll be more ready to compete tomorrow night for the championship.”
Austin Teighman had the game-high points with 17 for the Puxico Indians. Tim Hancock added 12 and Garrett Payne tallied 11. Corey Pratt had one trey.
Bernie (18-1) will now play the #6 Woodland Cardinals in the SCAA Championship Game at 8:30 p.m. Friday night.
“Playing for a championship is as good as it gets,” stated Botsch. “It doesn’t matter how we get there. We got there. I think our kids will really have to value the opponent, get themselves totally prepared and be ready to grind out a win Friday night because it is sure not going to be easy.”
Final Score Bernie 61 Puxico 58
Puxico 19 14 14 11 - 58
Bernie 10 20 22 9 - 61
Puxico (58) - Garrett Payne 11, Corey Pratt 4, Austin Teichman 17, Tim Hancock 12, Seth Luttrull 2, Zack Tucker 12. FG 23, FT 11/19, F 18. (3-pointers: Corey Pratt 1. Fouled Out: none)
Bernie (61) - Matt Vernon 6, Jake Wagner 10, B.J. Jennings 16, Justin Stanfield 10, J.R. Pregel 4, Devin Trammell 5, Joey Walker 8, Gavin Smith 2. FG 21, FT 12/18, F 17. (3-pointers: Matt Vernon 2, Jake Wagner 1, B.J. Jennings 1, Justin Stanfield 2, Devin Trammell 1. Fouled Out: Joey Walker)
