Bell City, Missouri – The Bernie Mules are having a great start to the 2014 season winning six games thus far and only dropping one game. They traveled to Bell City Friday evening and defeated the Cubs 65 – 62.
“We really didn’t deserve to win tonight,” stated Bernie boys basketball coach Brad Botsch. “Bell City vastly outplayed and outhustled us. They lit up us time after time from outside and we continually failed to get out and guard them.”
Caleb Ellenburg tallied a game-high 40 points for the Mules. Brandon Sparks recorded 10 points. Matt Vernon added 8 points.
Cole Nichols recorded a game-high six 3-pointers for Bell City and finished with 27 points. Bobby Wright tallied 12 points all treys. Kolten Siebert added 10 points including two 3-pointers and Nate Finney finished with 9 points including one trey.
Bernie jumped out to a 17-7 lead over Bell City in the first period and scored double digits in all four periods. Bell City outscored Bernie in the second period, but it was not enough to take the lead. They matched each other in the 3rd and 4th periods with 15 and 18 points respectively.
“I really saw this coming and tried to convey that to our kids, but we didn’t get up for this game like we should have and narrowly escaped with a win. We have to earn every victory and not feel entitled to get it,” continued Botsch. “Bell City really brought it tonight and you have to give the a lot of credit for pushing us to the brink of a loss. We have a lot of improvements to make and it all starts with our attitudes and being 100% coachable.”
Fourth seeded Bernie will travel to Bloomfield to participate in the 58th Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Friday. They take on the East Prairie Eagles at 2:00 p.m.
In JV action the Mules earned a forfeit win playing only two quarters due to not enough athletes for Bell City. The JV Mules have a record of 5-1.
Final Score Bernie 65, Bell City 62
Bernie 17 15 15 18 - 65
Bell City 7 22 15 18 - 62
Bernie (65) – Matt Vernon 8, Blake Gilmore 1, Brandon Sparks10, Caleb Ellenburg 40, Devin Trammell 2, Gavin Smith 4. FG 21, FT 22/38, F 20. (3pointers: Sparks 1. Fouled Out: None).
Bell City (62) – Nate Finney 9, Brandon Abner 2, Kolten Siebert 10, Cole Nichols 27, Jesse Smith 2, Bobby Wright 12. FG 23, FT 3/7, F 27. (3-pointers: Nichols 6, Wright 4, Siebert 2, Finney 1. Fouled Out: Finney, Smith.)
Caleb Ellenburg is shown in the photo taken by Sierra Noel Waller.
