Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Bloomfield, Missouri - For the fourth time in five years, the #1 seed Kennett Indians walk away with the first place trophy. This year it was #3 seed Bernie who fell short of the victory and the opportunity to beat a bigger school.
"That's pretty special," stated Jim Vaughan, Kennett's head basketball coach. "It's a great accomplish for us. Winning it again is always going to be special."
The Bernie Mules knew the difficulty that lay ahead. The house was packed full of Mule fans. It's always a large crowd at Bloomfield, but this year seemed even larger with Kennett and Bernie on the court.
The Indians simply owned the court. They held the Mules to less than 10 points in each quarter and right from the gate began scoring and playing their defense well.
"Our biggest concern today was not letting their shooters get open, commented Vaughan. "How impressive of our kids to recognize that. We jumped a little bit in the half-court and would double the ball and run to a shooter. We just didn't give them time to set up and get one off. That was our biggest key defensively against the Mules tonight. Our kids executed well and got it done. That's on them for taking what they knew they had to do and making sure they got it done."
The Indians ended the half with a 29-13 lead over Bernie and quickly squashed their hopes of winning the title. Kennett came out of the locker room psyched for the 2nd half. They scored 15 unanswered points in the first few minutes of the 3rd quarter jumped to a 44 - 15 lead with about four minutes still remaining in the period.
"We have traditionally had some lackluster 3rd quarters," continued Vaughan. "We guarded the first three possessions and I think we got three turnovers right away. That right there game us momentum the rest of the quarter. We always say the first two or three minutes our of halftime is going to tell the tale of the second half. Our first three possessions kind of set the tone for how we finished the game."
Akeem Nelson recorded the game-high 20 points for Kennett with 2 treys. Senior Kevonte Mitchell tallied 18 points and was 8 for 10 at the charity stripe.
Caleb Ellenburg recorded a team-high 17 points.
Kennett has been impressive during tournament play at Bloomfield. Winning four our of the last five years and only losing to Holcomb last year.
"That's pretty special," Vaughan said of the winning streak. "I don't care what size schools are in it when you get in this tournament there are small schools and a mixture of us and Dexter in Class 4. You get teams, coaches and the atmosphere that is competitive. Winning this is still a good accomplishment for us regardless of who is playing it it. Obviously, you have got to come and play every night."
"South Pemiscot gave us a really good game Saturday night. I really think that helped boost us and kind of worked our kids up a little going into the championship game. We really came to play and winning it again is always going to be special."
"We play New Madrid County Central next Tuesday in New Madrid. They have a special guard and some others who can rebound well. They are active and tough. It will be a game of skill and who can just come out on top."
Final Score Kennett Indians 59 Bernie Mules 27
Kennett 15 16 19 9 - 59
Bernie 6 9 6 6 - 27
Kennett (59) - Antavies Drake 9, Rantrell Caruthers 4, Akeem Nelson 20, Kevonte Mitchell 18, Andre Oliver 4, Materion Jones 4. FG 23, FT 10/16, F 18. (3-pointers: Drake 1, Nelson 2. Fouled Out: none)
Bernie (27) - Matt Vernon 1, B.J. Jennings 2, Bubby Schwent 3, Joey Walker 4, Caleb Ellenburg 17. FG 11, FT 5/11, F 15. (3-pointer: none. Fouled Out: none)
The next big game for Bernie will be held at the ShowMe Center in Cape Girardeau. They will play Oran on Monday, January 7th.
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Bloomfield, Missouri - The battle for 5th place between the Twin River Royals and the home-town favorite Bloomfield Wildcats took some interesting turns throughout the game.
Coming out of the first quarter Bloomfield had a 1 point advantage over the Royals, but failed to keep pace in the 2nd quarter scoring only 6 points to the Royals 10. At the half it was the Royals on top 24 - 21.
Chance Wilkerson had the game-high score of 13 points and Eric Ray added 12 more for the Royals. Mason Douglas hit 2 treys for the Royals helping them to a 5th place victory in the 57th Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.
Alex Gibbs was the only Wildcat in double figures with a recorded 10 points including one trey.
Nathan Newell and Tyler Battles each added a 3-pointer for the Wildcats. Tim Fox added 2 treys.
It was an outstanding performance by these two team.
Final Score Twin Rivers 58 Bloomfield 50
Twin Rivers 14 10 15 19 - 58
Bloomfield 15 6 14 15 - 50
Twin Rivers (58) – Zach Underberg 3, Jase Worley 10, Nathan Watson 7, Chance Wilkerson 13, Andrew Mittlestadt 7, Eric Ray 12, Mason Douglas 6, FG 17, FT 19/27, F 22 (3-pointers: Jase Worley 2, Eric Ray 1, Mason Douglas 2, Fouled Out: none)
Bloomfield (50) Nathan Newell 7, Tim Fox 8, Tyler Battles 6, Jacob Clary 3, Noah Vandiver 8, Alex Gibbs 10, FG 16, FT 13/25, F 21 (3-pointers: Nathan Newell 1, Tim Fox 2, Tyler Battles 1, Alex Gibbs 1, Fouled Out: none)
Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Bloomfield, Missouri – The first game on Monday featured the #14 Puxico Indians and the #5 Saxony Lutheran Crusaders in the consolation game. The Puxico Indians seem to have been the sleeper team of the tournament, quietly winning each of their games and upsetting both the #11 seed East Prairie Eagles and the #5 seed the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders. This definitely will be a team to continue watching this season.
Puxico came out hot and scored in the first few seconds of the game. The Indians jumped out ahead and at the end of the first quarter they were leading 21 – 10.
Saxony fought back opening the second quarter with a bucket, but the Indians of Puxico answered right back with one of their own.
Half time score was 50 – 37 all Puxico!
The Indians had Garrett Payne #14 as their powerhouse player of the game. He scored a team-high 18 points. Seth Luttrull #43 added 15 including two 3-pointers. Austin Teichman shot 5 buckets for 10 points. Corey Pratt added 9 points including a trey and was 4 for 4 at the charity stripe.
Jack Lake # 45 scored a game-high 24 points for Saxony. Zach Beal #3 added 14.
It was all Puxico in the 2nd half as they led 50 – 37 in the 3rd quarter and added another 18 points to seal the win in the consolation game.
Final Score Puxico Indians 68 Saxony Lutheran Crusaders 54
Puxico 21 14 15 18 - 68
Saxony Lutheran 10 16 11 17 - 54
Puxico (68) – Ronnie Wegener 4, Garrett Payne 18, Corey Pratt 9, Austin Teichman 10, Tim Hancock 4, Seth Luttrull 15, Zach Tucker 8, FG 29, FT 7/9, F 18 (3-pointers: Corey Pratt 1, Seth Luttrull 2, Fouled Out: none)
Saxony Lutheran (54) – Zach Beal 14, Chase Steffans 1, Ryan Palmer 5, Taylor Richmond 2, Elwood Voss 2, Hunter Coe 6, Jack Lake 11, FG 24, FT 5/13, F 12 (3-pointers: Ryan Palmer 1, Fouled Out: none)
Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
St. Louis, Missouri – The Dexter Lady Bearcats traveled to St. Joseph Academy to play Rock Bridge High School out of Columbia, Missouri on Monday. The Lady Bruins are ranked #3 in the stated followed by Incarnate Word #1 and Dexter #2. Dexter fell behind in the first quarter and trailed 34 – 12 at halftime.
The Bruins eventually defeated the ‘Cats 56 – 42. This was the first loss of the season by Dexter; however they played a great game against a 5A school. They are now 10 – 1 on the season.
Six of the girls from Rock Bridge were over 6 feet. Sophie Cunningham, and Kayla Cheadle, and Audrey Holt were 6’1”, Bri Porter stood 6’2” and Cierra Porter and Avery Schroeder stood at 6’4” each.
Sophie Cunningham #3 a 6’1” junior had the game-high points for Rock Bridge. She obtained 19 points total including 1 trey.
Hannah Noe #10 recorded a team-high of 18 points for Dexter including one trey. Erica Cobb #15 added 10 points.
Final Score Dexter Bearcats 42 Rock bridge Bruins 56
Dexter 5 7 12 18 - 42
Rock Bridge 17 17 18 4 - 56
DEXTER (42) - Hannah Noe 18, Dakota Reynolds 6, Alison Jarrell 6, Erika Cobb 10, Paige Patterson 2. FG 14, FT 7/7, F 9. (3-pointers: Reynolds 2, Noe 1, Jarrell 2, Cobb 2. Fouled Out: none)
ROCK BRIDGE (56) - Sophie Cunningham 19, Kayla Cheadle 5, Laurie Frew 1, Audrey Holt 8, Cierra Porter 8, Chayla Cheadle 8, Bri Porter 5, Avery Schroeder 2. FG 21, FT 11/12, F 12 (3-pointers: Cunningham 1, K. Cheadle 1, Porter 1. Fouled Out: none)
DEXTER (10-1) will play at Farmington on Thursday, January 9th. Their next home game is Monday, January 13th against the Kennett Indians.
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Brosely, Missouri - Congratulations to the Lady Bearcats! It's a 3-peat for Dexter as they defeated the Neelyville Tigers in the Lady Royals Classic Tournament 63 - 34 on Saturday.
This was the third straight year the Lady 'Cats have won the tournament and the second year they competed against Neelyville in the Championship game. Last year they defeated the Lady Tigers 71 - 32.
Hannah Noe #10 had the game-high score with 21 points including 1 trey for the Bearcats. Erika Cobb #15 tallied 15 points and also produced the only other 3-pointer for Dexter. Paige Patterson #22 and Alison Jarrell #12 each added 8 points to the scoreboard.
Shelby Moon and Emily Eaker shared the team-high record with 12 points each. Shelby Moon also tallied 2 treys for the Lady Tigers.
Final score Neelyville Tigers 45 Dexter Bearcats 63
| Neelyville | 7 | 10 | 18 | 10 | -- | 45 |
| Dexter | 16 | 12 | 19 | 16 | -- | 63 |
Neelyville (45) - Shelby Moon 12, Maggie Eaker 3, Jazmyne Smith 4, Emily Eaker 12, Chelsea Petty 4, Christina Russom 1, Riley Washburn 9. FG 16, FT 10/19, F 19. (3-pointers: Moon 2, Washburn 1. Fouled out: none)
Dexter (63) - Dakota Reynolds 6, Hannah Noe 21, Melanie McKuin 5, Alison Jarrell 8, Erika Cobb 15, Paige Patterson 8. FG 21, FT 19/29, F 22. (3-pointers: Noe 1, Cobb 1. Fouled out: Cobb)
The Lady 'Cats will be back in action on Monday, December 30th when they travel to St. Louis to play Rock Bridge High School of Columbia, Missouri. The game will be held at St. Joseph's Academy at 5:00 p.m.
