Bloomfield, Missouri - In the first upset of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, #9 seeded Van Buren beat #8 seeded Portageville in the very last game on Wednesday evening by a score of 70-62.

It took all of the first half for Van Buren to get started offensively.  They were held to just 18 points in the first two periods of the game.  Portageville scored double digits in each of the four quarters.

Portageville led 15-13 at the end of the first and 29-18 at the half.  Van Buren exploded in the third period tallying 28 points and holding Portageville to just 11.  Going into the fourth quarter Van Buren led Portageville 46-40.

Final Score Portageville 62, Van Buren 70

Portageville    15    14    11   22  -  62

Van Buren      13      5    28   24  -  70

Portageville (62) - Steven Guo 12, AJ Hicks 16, Drew Irby 3, Bryce Rone 6, Bub Lance 10, Terry Kirkwood 15.  FG 24, FT 4/7, F 4. (3-pointers: Steven Guo 3, AJ Hicks 4, Drew Irby 1, Bryce Rone 2.  Fouled Out: Steven Guo)

Van Buren (70) - Connor Jackson 24, Keetein Perkins 4, Trey Nicholson 12, Haden Barnes 4, Jacob Brown 3, Hayden Towner 23.  FG 22, FT 20/30, F 14. (3-pointers: Conner Jackson 5, Jacob Brown 1, Fouled Out: None)

Van Buren will face #1 seeded Hayti Indians in a quarterfinal match-up on Thursday, December 27th at 4 p.m.

Portageville hopes to advance to a consultation semifinal, but must first get past #16 seeded Holcomb at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.