Bloomfield, Missouri – The Class 2, District 1 boys basketball Tournament finally got under way on Tuesday evening at Bloomfield.
The #2 seeded Bernie Mules defeated the #7 seeded Holcomb in a very convincing victory. Final score 60-40.
Caleb Ellenburg scored first for the Mules. He earned two buckets at the charity stripe.
The Mules were able to jump out and lead 13-2 in the first period before Holcomb could answer with a couple of buckets. By half-time Bernie lead 26-10. They continued to score double digits in each of the four quarters with the #13 being the magic number for three periods.
Ellenburg paced the Mules with a game-high 28 points including two 3-pointers. Brandon Sparks also finished in double digits scoring 15 points including 3 treys.
Holcomb’s Preston Sikes finished with 11 points including one 3-pointer. He was the only Hornet’s athlete to score in double digits. Skyler Johnson hit one trey.
Bernie will now face Bloomfield in the semifinal game slated to begin around 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, February 26th. The other semifinal game is between top-seeded Scott County Central and #4 seeded South Pemiscot. That game begins at 6:00 p.m.
Final Score #2 Bernie 60, #7 Holcomb 40
Holcomb 4 6 14 16 - 40
Bernie 13 13 21 13 - 60
Holcomb (40) – Skyler Johnson 5, Jorden Massey 8, Zach Bridges 2, Preston Sikes 11, Jacob Adkins 2, Dustin Black 3, Chance Davis 4, Ben Vance 5. FG 17, FT 4/7, F 16. (3-pointers: Johnson 1, Sikes 1. Fouled Out: None).
Bernie (60) – Matt Vernon 8, Login Wood 3, Brandon Sparks 15, Caleb Ellenburg 28, Gavin Smith 2, Trey Kirkpatrick 2, Gavin Brown 2. FG 21, Ft 12/14, F 10. (3-pointers: Sparks 3, Ellenburg 2, Wood 1. Fouled Out: None).
Bernie, Missouri – It was a thriller game in the Bernie with the Mules kicking Twin Rivers in double overtime 66 – 64 Tuesday evening.
“Beating a good team three times is very tough thing to do,” Bernie coach Brad Botsch said in a press release to the ShowMe Times. “Twin Rivers came in here and played our butts off. They were more physical and really hurt us on the glass and just had more fire and desire overall. We were fortunate to hang on for the win.”
Matt Vernon recorded a game-high 31 points for the Mules including two 3-pointers.
Brandon Sparks finished with 23 points including three treys.
Caleb Ellenburg calculated 10 points.
“We’ve got some things to work on before the end of the year,” Botsch commented. “It is extremely important for our success that our kids are 100% bought in with heart and soul. I don’t think we have had that ‘epiphany’ yet where the sense of urgency that the end of the year is upon us. I hope we find that soon.”
Seth Snider tallied a team-high 20 points for Twin Rivers.
Andrew Mittelstadt recorded 16 points.
Chance Wilkerson finished with 14 points including a trey.
Bernie (19-2) will host the Notre Dame Bulldogs on Friday. Game time 6:00 p.m.
Final Score Bernie 66, Twin Rivers 64 Double Overtime
Twin Rivers 8 15 14 15 66 - 64
Bernie 13 13 13 13 68 - 66
Twin Rivers (64) – Jase Worley 5, Chance Wilkerson 14, Andrew Mittelstadt 16, Mason Douglas 9, Seth Snider 20. FG 27, FT 5/11, F 18. (3-pointers: Worley 1, Wilkerson 1, Douglas 3. Fouled Out: None).
Bernie (66) – Matt Vernon 31, Brandon Sparks 23, Caleb Ellenburg 10, Gavin smith 2. FG 22, FT 17/21, F 16. (3-pointers: Sparks 3, Vernon 2. Fouled Out: None).
Puxico, Missouri – The Bernie Mules varsity boys basketball team improved their record on the road Friday evening 15-2 by defeated the Puxico Indians 64 – 54.
“It was a grind tonight, but we found a way to get the ‘W’,” stated Bernie’s coach Brad Botsch. “Puxico is always a tough place to play, and we dug just deep enough to get out of there with a win.”
Caleb Ellenburg keeps pounding it out for the Mules recording another game-high 26 points including one trey.
“I thought Ellenburg stepped up his play tonight for us and we need him to continue to be a force for us,” Botsch stated. “If we can ever get everyone having a good night on the same night we could really be tough. Our seniors realize there isn’t a lot of time left in their careers here and they need to start feeling that urgency to take the next step in effort and coachability.“We have to have the attitude of never being satisfied and keep pushing forward. I look forward to seeing what we can do in the county tournament next week,” continued Botsch. “We have played most of these teams at least once and I am anxious to see how our kids play in Round 2.”
Brandon Sparks recorded 23 points for Bernie hitting four 3-pointers.
Puxico’s leading athlete was Zack Tucker who tallied 24 points including a couple of 3-pointers. Seth Luttrell added 18 points.
Bernie and Puxico both begin play on Monday evening at the 2015 SCAA varsity boys basketball tournament. Top-seeded Bernie will play #8 Richland at 6:30 p.m. and #6 seed Puxico Indians play the #3 Dexter Bearcats at 8:00 p.m.
Final score Bernie 64, Puxico 54
Bernie 18 9 19 18 - 64
Puxico 18 7 14 16 - 54
Bernie (64) – Matt Vernon 9, Brandon Sparks 23, Caleb Ellenburg 26, Devin Tramell 3, Gavin Smith 3, FG 20, FT 17/27, F 13. (3-pointers: Brandon Sparks 4, Matt Vernon 1, Caleb Ellenburg 1, Devin Trammell 1. Fouled Out: Trammell).
Puxico (54) – Levi Woods 4, Chris Siler 4, Dalton King 2, Zach McCoy 2, Seth Luttrell 18, Zach Tucker 24. FG 19, FT 14/15, F 18. (3-pointers: Luttrell 2, Fouled Out: Corey Pratt).
Oran, Missouri – Bernie Mules earned a win on the road Tuesday evening defeating the Oran Eagles 65 – 58.
The Mules started out slow scoring only 5 points in the first period before coming alive in the second tallied 22 points. Matt Vernon hit a 3-pointer while Gavin Smith hit one basket in the first 8 minutes of play.
Vernon tallied a team-high 21 points including three treys for the Mules.
“Tough road win tonight,” stated Bernie Mule’s head basketball coach Brad Botsch. “We didn’t play particularly well and missed a lot of free throws down the stretch. They made us earn everything we got!”
Brandon Sparks and Gavin Smith scored 14 points each and Caleb Ellenburg finished with 12 points.
“We have to keep grinding out wins. That seems to be our style this year,” continued Botsch. “It is tough on the coaches, but an ugly win is better than a pretty loss.”
Bernie (11-1) will have a tough game on Friday as they travel to Advance. “We will really have to be ready to play to win up there,” stated Botsch.
Final Score Bernie 65, Oran 58
Bernie 5 22 11 27 - 65
Oran 11 15 8 24 - 58
Bernie (65) – Blake Gilmore 2, Matt Vernon 21, Brandon Sparks 14, Caleb Ellenburg 12, Devin Trammell 2, Gavin Smith 14. FG 17, FT 25/36 F 21 (3-pointers: Matt Vernon 3, Brandon Sparks 3, Foulded Out: Sparks, Trammell)
Oran (58) – Jacob Priggel 17, Preston Hahn 3, Hunter Schlosser 20, Jason Bennett 2, Garrison Mangels 6. FG 22, FT 13/19, F30 (3-pointers: Hunter Schlosser 1, Fouled Out: Priggel, Schlosser, Mangels)
In JV action the Bernie Mules defeated Oran 66 – 35 to improve their record to 6-1 on the season.
Brown recorded 20 points. Pippins tallied 18 points.
Bloomfield, Missouri – The Bernie Mules won the 58th Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Tuesday evening in front of a packed crowed of fans!
The Mules jumped on the board first and were able to secure a 6 to 7 point lead throughout the duration of the game with the exception of a few close calls. At the end of the first period they led by only one point. Bernie scored double digits in each of the four periods to secure their win over Kennett 49 – 45.
“We kept getting it up to seven, eight or nine and then they would fight right back,” commented Bernie head basketball coach Brad Botsch. “A good program like Kennett is going to do that. Coach Vaughan is one of the best coaches in the area. His kids are going to play hard. They gave us trouble with their pressure, but you cannot say enough about a kid like Matt Vernon and his ball-handling tonight. He had two guys on him pretty well all night and still found a way to get us into our defense.”
Kennett’s Carlos Turner tallied a team-high 11 points including three 3-pointers. Rantrell Caruthers finished with 9 points before fouling out. He also hit one trey. Andre Oliver and Jad Kenny each scored 8 points.
Matt Vernon, a senior, scored 11 points for the Mules. “We just wanted to execute Coach Botsch’s game plan,” stated Vernon. “If we got the lead we could control the tempo and that’s what we wanted to do.”
Powerhouse Caleb Ellenburg tallied a game-high 23 points including one 3-pointer. “We worked really hard and we thought we could win this tournament coming in,” Bernie athlete Caleb Ellenburg stated. “We knew we were the four seed and had some work to do, but we were really ready to win it. Most of us were here last year on the team and we were really excited to get another chance at Kennett.”
“Caleb had an outstanding tournament,” Botsch stated. “He does what he does. He hits tough shots. Just when you think you cannot hit that shot he will take it up over two or three guys that are three or four inches taller than him and knock it down. You just cannot say enough about him and the rest of the kids on our team. Everybody on our team contributed in a positive way tonight.”
Bernie (10-1) will take a break for about a week and return to action on Tuesday, January 6, 2015 when they travel to Oran.
“We are not one of those teams that is going to walk in here and show-off our offensive fire power,” Botsch said. “We are going to have to grind things out. These kids have worked hard all summer for this moment. They lift weights and religiously put in the time. That kind of culminates tonight when you get to celebrate a championship!”
“I just cannot say enough about how hard our kids fought and the heart they displayed,” continued Botsch. “They played all out and had an everything you got performance.”
Final Score #4 Bernie Mules 49, #3 Kennett Indians 45
Bernie 11 12 14 12 - 49
Kennett 10 9 13 13 - 45
Bernie (49) – Caleb Ellenburg 23, Brandon Sparks 6, Matt Vernon 11, Gavin Smith 4, devin Trammell 5. FG 21, FT 5/9, F 16. (3-pointers: Ellenburg 1, Trammell1. Fouled Out: Trammell)
Kennett (45) – Carlos Turner 11, Andre Oliver 8, Jaylean Kinnon 2, Jad Kenny 8, Rantrell Caruthers 9, Fred Gooden 5, Jarvis Stewart 2. FG 14, FT 12/16, F 16. (3-pointers: Caruthers 2, Turner 3. Fouled Out: Caruthers.)
