~Cubs to face Thayer in 1A Sectional Wednesday
SIKESTON - The last time the Bell City Cubs were in the state playoffs none of the players on this year's team were even born.
So if there were any nerves on the part of Bell City in Monday's Class 1A Regional game at the Sikeston Field House, it didn't show.
The Cubs demolished the Delta C-7 Chargers 78-42 to advance to the 1A Sectional game at Poplar Bluff on Wednesday night at 8:15 where they will play Thayer (63-50 winners against South Iron).
"Other than the first quarter, I thought we played awfully well," said Bell City head coach David Heeb. "Once their legs went, our kids could kind of feel it and we went after them then."
The Chargers (14-11) hung tough for the majority of the first half, but the Cubs closed the half strong with a 21-2 run to take a commanding 41-17 lead at the break.
"That was real big," said Heeb. "I thought the biggest part of that run was that it was started by our bench. They came in and didn't just hold the lead, they extended the lead. When the starters got back in there they got the message and pretty much went to work."
Heeb said he benched his starting unit, which was clinging to an 18-12 lead early in the second quarter, because of sloppy play.
"I told them I wasn't going to watch it anymore," said Heeb. "It was ridiculous the way they were playing. I just thought we were standing around, everybody was waiting for somebody else to make a play. When they went back in there everybody was looking to make a play."
Bell City (25-5) picked up where it left off in the third quarter, starting the period on a 12-3 run to take a 53-20 lead.
Sophomore point guard Dominitrix Johnson pumped in 16 of his game-high 25 points in the third quarter, with many coming on fast break layups after the Cubs would steal the ball on the full court press.
"I thought we anticipated real well," said Heeb. "C.J. (Hadley) and Eric (Henry) can cover a lot of ground in the middle of the court. We've kind of been flipping back and forth between the man and the press. I thought the press might work a little better because (Delta C-7 has) got good quickness."
The Cubs extended the lead to 63-29 entering the fourth quarter.
Henry scored 15 and Hadley added 10 points. Kenyon Wright, a 6-foot junior, scored 13 points, including four 3-pointers.
"At this time of the year all that you can really control is how hard you play," said Heeb. "You're going to have nights where nerves get to you -- the pressure is pretty high this time of the year. If you can go out and play hard every night you've got a chance to win the game."
Delta C-7, which entered the game as a heavy underdog after winning its district by upsetting the top two seeds, was led by Derrick Dye's 14 points and Josh Driskell's nine points.
But despite the Chargers' less-than-spectacular record, Heeb was still leery of the Bootheel squad.
"I was a little intimidated," said Heeb. "They're kind of dangerous. Any team that gets hot and wins their district like that when they weren't supposed to, they come in feeling loose and they feel like they have nothing to lose. If you've got a team that's loose and is capable of shooting the ball well, that kind of scares you. They came out and shot well early, but I think we got to them a little bit. We were a little deeper than they were."
The Couch Lady Indians defeated Delta in the regional at Sikeston for second straight year.
Couch led 13-12 after one quarter before the Lady Bobcats tied the score at halftime 21-21. Couch was able to maintain the lead in the second half to pull out the victory.
Delta was led by Sarah Cook's 20 points. Rebecca Cook added 11 points and Rebecca Below had 10.
Amie Smiedala led Couch with 23 points.
Delta finishes its season at 20-7.