Ice cold Tigers no match for Portageville

Wednesday, January 15, 2003
Willie Hassell

CARUTHERSVILLE -- Portageville had no trouble disposing of Bootheel Conference rival Caruthersville on Tuesday night, beating the Tigers by the surprising score of 54-32.

"I thought we came out and played well," said Portageville head coach Jim Bidewell. "I was really anticipating a closer game, but Caruthersville was completely cold. There was a lid on their bucket. They didn't shoot the ball well at all and it really made a difference in the ballgame."

The Tigers struggled all night on the offensive end, scoring just four points in the first quarter, two in the second and nine in the third.

Caruthersville outscored Portageville 17-13 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late. SEMO-bound shooting guard Chris Springer was held to a season-low seven points.

For Portageville, Willie Hassell scored 13 points and Aaron Bidewell contributed 11.

"It was a good effort with a combination of a bad shooting night for (Caruthersville)," said Bidewell. "They had a lot of shots that just rolled out. They couldn't have shot any worse if they shot with the opposite hand. It happens to every team, and tonight, it just happened to them."

Portageville improves to 9-3, having won seven of their last eight games. Their mettle will be tested on Thursday night with a trip to Dexter.

"We're not anywhere close to where we need to be, but the kids are fighting through it," said Bidewell. "We're just trying to find a good chemistry."

BELL CITY -- Another game, another blowout by the Bell City Cubs.

The defending Class 1 state champs improved to 12-2 on Friday night with an uncontested 94-30 win over Puxico on Tuesday night.

"We came out with a lot of intensity," said Bell City head coach David Heeb. "We didn't shoot the ball as we did last week, but we made up for it in other ways. Our bench was a big factor."

Two-time all-stater Eric Henry led the way with 23 points, followed by Dominitrix Johnson with 16, Kenyon Wright with 14 and A.J. Henry with 11.

The Cubs opened the floodgates early, outscoring Puxico 30-5 in the first quarter.

"We're not where we want to be, but I think we're approaching that more and more every day," said Heeb. "Our defense is picking up and we're getting contributions from all 10 guys now."

For the Indians, Matt Fox led the way with nine points. No Puxico player finished in double figures.

Bell City will be back in action next Tuesday, hosting Woodland. Puxico (4-6) will host Twin Rivers on Friday.

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