BERNIE vs PUXICO (7th Grade):
The number one seed Bernie Mules led off the tournament action Monday night by jumping out to a 10 to 7 lead over Puxico in the first quarter, increasing their lead to 8 points by halftime 28 to 20. Four 3-point baskets in the first half by Bernie's Ridge Littleton and 8-points in the second quarter by Gavin Brown helped to increase the lead for the Mules.
Brown and Littleton continued their hot hand offensively against the Indians in the second half pulling away with a commanding final score of 59 to 38. Brown held honors of high point man for the night with 22 points, while Littleton followed close behind with 16 points. Dalton Hobgood chipped in 8 points along with Zach Eaves (6), Mason Mayberry (5) and Colton Jankowski (2).
Levi Woods lead the Indians in scoring with 18-points, followed by Hunter Walker.
The Bernie Mules shot 75% on the night from the charity stripe by hitting 12 of 16 attempts. They are a very talented team and will play in the finals of the tournament Tuesday evening at 6:45 pm against the Dexter 7th Grade team.
DEXTER vs WOODLAND (7th Grade):
The second game found the number two seed Dexter Bearcats against the number six seed Woodland Cardinals. Woodland surprised the Bloomfield 7th Grade team on Saturday and defeated the Wildcats to advance to the semifinal game.
Early action was tight as both teams dumped in 11-points during the opening quarter. Woodland's David Ashby and Tyler Massa each hit an outside 3-point shot, while the Bearcat's Gabe Jackson was on fire offensively putting up 7 early points.
Coach Josh Dowdy's philosophy is defensively driven and his 7th grade team proved it by holding the Cardinals scoreless in the 2nd quarter. Jackson continued his offensive attack by adding 4-points, while Ben Sindle and Spencer Owens added 3-points each and Bo McMullin added 2-points. The halftime score was in favor of the 'Cats by a score of 23 to 11.
The Bearcats pushed the offensive throttle forward in the second half by outscoring the Cardinals 27 to 14, taking home the victory and advancing to the finals with a final score of 50 to 25. They will take on the Bernie Mules at 6:45 pm on Tuesday night. Woodland will play the consolation game against Puxico at 4:15 pm tomorrow afternoon.Scoring for the Bearcats was spread out among the team with Jackson with 11, Nick Trout with 8, Spencer Owens with 7, Ben Sindle with 6, Matt Chesser & Kole Kelly with 5, and Kris Rinehart & Bo McMullin both with 4-points.
ADVANCE vs BELL CITY (8th Grade):
In eight grade action, the Advance Hornets made quick work of the Bell City Cubs. The Advance team is highly talented, quick and move the ball well among the entire team. Jumping out to a 16-point lead in the first quarter, Preston Wuebker dumped in 8 in the 1st quarter and 9 in the 2nd quarter on his way to a team leading 25 points on the night. The Hornets led at halftime by a score of 38 to 15.
The Hornets pulled back their offensive machine in the 2nd half, except for Dawson Mayo, who had 15-points in the second half for Advance. Advance continued their transition game to win by a score of 65 to 34.
DEXTER vs BLOOMFIELD (8th Grade):
The final game of the night found a redemption game between the Dexter Bearcats and the Bloomfield Wildcats. A very evenly matched group of athletes from both schools, the regular season game was won by Bloomfield. The only loss of the season for the Bearcats, this semifinal match proved to be highly competitive and a grind for the victory.During the first match up, foul trouble hampered the offense for the Bearcats as Jason Jarrell was sidelined early in the contest with 3 fouls. A key threat for the 'Cats, Jarrell got started early helping the Bearcats jump out to a first quarter lead over Bloomfield 10 to 7.
A tough second quarter of defense found the Bearcats only adding 6-points to their total while the Wildcats only found 2-points in the quarter. At halftime, the score was 16 to 9 in favor of the Bearcats.
Halftime adjustments and a new spark to their defensive play, the Wildcats came out and outscored the Bearcats 12 to 4 in the third quarter. The Wildcats had their first lead of the game with the score of 21 to 20 at the end of the quarter.
The gymnasium was electrified with fans and cheers during the fourth quarter, as both teams exchanged scoring blows like a prize fighter in the ring. The Bearcats were able to find 12-points compared to the Wildcats 11-points, ending regulation with a tie score of 32-ponts each. In the 2 minute overtime period, the Wildcats were able to find a layup as Hector moved down the court with a game winning layup. In the final minutes, the Wildcat defense simply denied Jason Jarrell an opporunity to get the basketball in a good position to attempt a final shot. The game ended with a final score of 34 for the Bloomfield Wildcats and 32 for the Dexter Bearcats.
The Wildcats were led in scoring by Tim Hector with 15-points followed by Jacob Hector with 9-points. Massingill and Phillips both contributed 4-points each and Alex Gibbs had 2-points. The Bearcats top scorer was again Jason Jarrell with 20-points. Bryce Simmons put 6-points in the book, along with 4-points by Babb and 2-points by Potts.
For exciting junior high basketball action, find your way to Bernie High School tomorrow. You will be guaranteed to enjoy the action that will take place. The games will be as follows:
- 4:15 PM: 7th Grade Consolation Game: Woodland Cardinals vs Puxico Indians
- 5:30 PM: 8th Grade Consolation Game: Dexter Bearcats vs Bell City Cubs
- 6:45 PM: 7th Grade FINAL Game: Dexter Bearcats vs Bernie Mules
- 8:00 PM: 8th Grade FINAL Game: Bloomfield Wildcats vs Advance Hornets
Dexter, Missouri - The T. S. Hill Middle School gym was filled with Bearcat fans Tuesday night to witness the Middle School Bearcats defeat the Puxico Indians in both the 7th and 8th grade games. The eighth grade won by a score of 56 to 17 while the seventh grade outscored the Indians by 12 points in the final quarter to win by a score of 58 to 45.
Coaches and the eighth grade players are still not happy with the turn out of last week's game against Bloomfield, but they have allowed that to be a motivation point for them and came out strong over the Indians.
The 8th Graders were powerful with a 15-2 lead in the first quarter. Bryce Simmons was a pillar of strength inside for the Bearcats dropping in 4 points in the 1st quarter. Coach Dowdy made several substitutions in the 2nd quarter and the ‘Cats gave up some of that lead. The score at half time was 20 to 12 in favor of the Bearcats.
Coming out in the third quarter, the Bearcats had 27 to 2 run on the Indians that cemented the outcome of the contest. Jason Jarrell took command of the game during that quarter offering 18 of his game high of 31 points. The game closed out with a score of 56 to 17. This win has brought the eighth grade record to 6-1 on the season.
The 7th Grade game was a see-saw battle, as Puxico maintained a slight lead throughout the first three quarters of the game. However, the Bearcats battled back at each point in the game just as it seemed the outcome could slip away from them.
The seventh grade Bearcats walked away with a 58-45 win over the Puxico Indians after a 23 to 12 run in the final quarter of the contest. Tuesday night's win brought the seventh grade team to a new record of 5-1.The seventh grade was lead in scoring by Nick Trout with 9-points on the night. He was followed by teammates Marcus Woodson and Bo McMullin with 7 points each and Dawson Kasting with six-points.
"You’ve heard it said, ‘Defense wins championships’ and we need good defense to be successful this weekend in the tournament," said Coach Josh Dowdy. “If not, they (the team) won't like the results.”
"I have a lot of faith in these boys and know they can accomplish a lot this weekend,” added Dowdy.
Dexter, Missouri - The Dexter 8th Grade Middle School was in action last night against the Bell City Cubs with some hard fought action. Coming off a tough loss last week to the powerful Bloomfield Wildcats, the Bearcats were energized and able to pickup the win over the Cubs by a score of 60 to 39.
The Bearcats had outstanding defensive play by Payton Tinnon and Zach Potts on the night. The two ‘Cats were assigned to guard the Bell City Cubs’ standouts in players by the name of Nichols and Hicks. These two athletes have been the “go-to” players for Bell City all season long.
“You have to know that the defense of Tinnon and Potts was great,” commented Coach Josh Dowdy. “After 3 quarters of play, Hicks and Nichols had combined for only 2-points.”
That was a major highlight for Coach Dowdy as he stresses defensive excellence to his teams. The Bearcats have worked hard this season and found success.
“The entire team really played well defensively,” added Dowdy. “I just hope that type of aggressive defense will continue the rest of the season.”
Offensively, the Bearcats had another big night from Jason Jarrell. Jarrell had 29 total points on the night and remains the key threat for the Bearcats scoring. Last week's loss against Bloomfield was proof as Jarrell got into early foul trouble and was forced to the bench. The deficit created in the first half was unable to be made up in the remainder of the game.
“Jason is simply unselfish, as you had previously pointed out in the SMT articles,” added Coach Dowdy. “He is simply unselfish on the court and is quick to feed the open man, but also knows when he needs to score and does it.”
The Bearcats had a revived energy in this game that put them back on the winning track. The loss to a very good Bloomfield team last week seemed to open their eyes and improve their performance.
“We need that energy going forward in the season,” said Dowdy. “It was a tough loss to Bloomfield last week and the kids seem to come out hungry.”
Both the 7th and 8th Grade Middle School teams will be in action again tonight for another home game against the Puxico Indians. Game time is a 6:00 PM.
“We need all the fans we can get there to support these kids,” Dowdy said. “This is really an excellent group that I enjoy coaching. It would be awesome to have a big crowd at the Middle School gym to cheer them on.”
Richland’s junior high basketball team just finished their last home game against the Cairo Pilots. The team is now looking forward to the Conference Tournament on November 10th through 13th. The Rebels have had an exciting season and are sad for it to come to an end. Along with the basketball team, the junior high cheerleaders have also had a great time learning new cheers and dances with their new cheerleading coach, Mrs. Anderson.
This year, the school and the basketball teams received a new head coach, Matt Cline, and a brand new assistant coach, Tyler Feller. This particular duo has previously coached basketball but this will be their first year coaching together at Richland. They are ecstatic about coaching not only junior high team but the high school team as well.
The junior high has two separate teams: one team consists of both sixth and seventh graders and the second team consists of only eighth graders. Both teams have had a fantastic season and for most of them, this was their first time playing the sport. Although most of the junior high teams in the community consist of all males, Richland is proud to have Liza King, a sixth grade girl, who enjoys the game and has excelled greatly throughout the season.
During the game against the Cairo Pilots, the sixth and seventh grade team quickly took the lead by scoring the first couple points. The Richland Rebels racked up points on the scoreboard and ended halftime, leading 26 to 10. The lead scorers of the first game were Garet Phillips and Josh Shidler, along with two notable players: Clayton H. and Riley Glass. The first game ended in the Rebels’ favor with a final score of 43 to 21.
The second game was played by the eighth graders and during the first two quarters, both teams were head to head. The score at half time was 36 to 24, with the Pilots in the lead. The Rebels lost their lead during the third quarter and things began to go downhill for the eighth grade boys. The final score was 62 to 48, leaving the Pilots with the victory of the second game. The top scorers were Devin Stoker and Josh Thorton, with two notable players: Jerry Craft and Preston Tilley.
Overall, both teams have had great seasons that had quickly come to an end this year. The eighth graders are looking forward to be playing on the high school team during the 2013 season and the seventh graders are anxious to keep improving themselves as a team.
Coach Cline and Coach Feller have really earned their stay at Richland, leaving the fans and community anxious and energized to see what happens with the high school basketball season that will officially start on November 26th through 30th at the Oran Invitational at Oran High School.
Jessica Snider SMT Writer
It’s been an exciting volleyball season for the Bernie Lady Mules to say the least. The very talented team has spent hours upon hours working to achieve their goal.
Open gyms and practices began early in the summer for the team. They walked into every practice with one thing on their mind and that was to improve all their skills and make 2012 a winning season.
The Lady Mules’ hard work on the court throughout many months has recently paid off as the team had the experience of a lifetime as they made it to the State Competition this weekend.
Many exciting nights of volleyball soon turned into the team’s dream of making it to the state competition. Many fans have sat through nail-biting games this season, and were tremendously proud to support their hometown Mules this weekend as they competed in more nail-biting action in the Show-Me Center.
There were more than just Bernie Mules there to cheer on the team, though. Many people from the surrounding area came out to support the Mules in their awesome experience.
The Bernie Mules qualified for state competition, made it to the final four, and then competed in the State Championship on Saturday at 3:00 against Winona.
It was an awesome atmosphere to be in as the Bernie Mules took the court for what would be many of the seniors’ last game ever. Each player was announced individually prior to the game.
Fans from both teams packed the bleachers and cheered after every point their team received.
Despite the great talent from the Bernie Mules, they ultimately fell in the championship to Winona in two sets.
Many of the players were upset in knowing that would be their last game to play with their teammates, but coaches and fans knew there was absolutely nothing this team should hang their heads about.
After the championship game, most everyone stayed around to watch the medals being handed out to both teams and also the coaches.
It was an emotional time for the Bernie Mules as they recognized their great accomplishments when they got their hands on that second place trophy. Along with individually getting second place state medals, Bernie head coach, Erin Hoffman, individually hugged each player and gave them a few words.
There shouldn’t be a single person who isn’t proud of this 2012 Bernie Mules volleyball team, as second place in the state of Missouri is an absolute awesome accomplishment!
Congratulations to all the girls on the team!
