Dexter, Portageville advance to semifinals

Portageville's Byron Wright puts up a jump shot against Richland on Saturday night. David Jenkins, Staff

BLOOMFIELD -- The undefeated Portageville Bulldogs will advance to the semifinal round of the 52nd Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament with a convincing win over the Richland Rebels 66-47 Saturday night in Bloomfield.

The No. 2 seeded Bulldogs (7-0), had to scrap and claw for every bit of their 19 point advantage over the No. 10 seeded Rebels (2-6) in Saturday's quarterfinal matchup.

Portageville used their athleticism and speed to apply immense pressure to Richland, which led to a number of transitional baskets off of Rebel turnovers.

Dexter sophomore Alan Flannigan looks to pass over Puxico defenders in the first half Saturday night. David Jenkins, Staff

Richland was able to hang in and found themselves down 14 as the teams headed to the halftime locker room.

The Rebels emerged in the third quarter with a new found intensity as they went on a 10-2 run to begin the second half and Richland pulled to within in four points 4:00 into the half. At that point, Portageville took a time out to make adjustments. After the time out, the Bulldogs began to pull away and controlled the outcome of the game for the duration of the contest.

Portageville head coach Jim Bidwell was impressed with the level of intensity the Rebels brought to the floor Saturday night.

"I was really impressed with the way they (Richland) scrapped," Bidwell said. "They scrapped the first time they played us. I never was comfortable in this game because I knew they (Richland) just weren't going to quit. We, me and my guys, knew that if we would have quit, this game would have been a different story.

"They (Richland) were able to make runs on us, but we were able to respond well to that," Bidwell continued. "As long as we can respond to those things, we feel like we will be in pretty good shape."

Richland head coach Casey Knight was proud of his teams effort, but noted they couldn't keep up with Portageville.

"We were just not able to overcome the speed and pressure of Portageville," Knight said. "I was very proud of our overall effort though."

Knight said his team did not start the game the way they had hoped to.

"I feel like we came out a little timid and played a little shy knowing that they (Portageville) are a great defensive team," he said. "We were timid in some aspects of our game and committed a lot of turnovers. We came out of that later in the game and went back to doing what we do and were able to make a little run. We tried to pressure them a little. Coach Bidwell does a great job and always has good teams. It was a lot closer game than the final score shows. We just weren't able to match that intensity the length of the game."

Drew Thornton led the way in the scoring column for the Rebels, contributing 17 points. Thornton also provided seven rebounds and a steal.

Knight pointed out that Thornton played well, despite being double and triple teamed at times.

"He (Thornton) worked really hard inside tonight," Knight said. "He was double and triple teamed and was still able to go up and make things happen for us."

The Bulldogs were led by standout guard Byron Wright. Wright contributed 25 points, seven steals, five rebounds, and an assist in Saturday's game.

Bidwell was pleased with Wright's play, but noted that Wright's teammates created the ability for his individual success.

"The defense that we have puts Byron out there where he is going to get a lot of those steals and a lot of those points, but he's definitely not a one man team," Bidwell said. "Everyone contributes. He (Wright) gives us a lot on the offensive end, but he has some improvement to make on the defensive end."

Wright was not alone on the Portageville score card, as six Bulldogs had six or more points in the game.

"Having a lot of depth is always a nice position for a coach," Bidwell said. "It prevents teams from keying in on one or two guys. We have a few guys who can really score for us on any giving night so we aren't really focused on our scoring, we really emphasize sound defense to set up our game plan."

Portageville will advance to the semifinal round and face No. 6 seed Twin Rivers tonight at 8:30 p.m.

Richland will play Van Buren tonight at 5:30 p.m. as both teams vie to advance to the fifth place game.

Dexter 74, Puxico 38

BLOOMFIELD -- The No. 5 seed Dexter Bearcats ended the 'Cinderella' run of the Puxico Indians Saturday night, as it was the Bearcats who came out on top in the quarterfinal game 74-38.

The game started in a much different fashion than it ended, as the Bearcats only held a two point advantage of 12-10 at the end of the first quarter.

It would not remain that way for long as Dexter stepped up the level of defensive pressure and took a 10 point lead at halftime. The Bearcats were plus 11 in turnover comparison to the Indians in the contest.

Dexter began the second half with a 10-0 run and never looked back.

Although the Bearcats head coach Rob Nichols was pleased with the win, he was not as pleased with the way his team played early in the game.

"We didn't play very well offensively," Nichols said. "Puxico had a lot to do with that. We just didn't have any flow to our offensive game, especially in the first half. We lost focus some what. I don't think we were very intense early in the game."

Jon Bowman led Dexter scorers with 18 points, all coming off his six 3-point baskets. Bowman has 11 3-point baskets in the tournament.

"Jon (Bowman) shoots the ball well when he lets the game come to him and takes good shots," Nichols said. "When he waits on the opportunity, we feel pretty confident in his ability to knock those shots down."

The return of sophomore center Alan Flannigan proved to be key for the Bearcats as well. Flannigan provided 12 points, six rebounds, and three blocks on the inside for Dexter Saturday, giving them a much needed inside presence.

"He (Flannigan) really adds a post presence," Nichols said. "He didn't play as well tonight as he is capable of, we are hoping to have him playing his best come Monday night, but he definitely adds a post presence for us."

The Bearcats will face the arch rival Bernie Mules tonight in semifinal action at 7 p.m.

Bernie 64, Bloomfield 41

The top-seeded Bernie Mules jumped out to an early lead and then held off Stoddard County rival Bloomfield in the first quarterfinal game of the night, 64-41.

Bernie had to play most of the game without 6-5 junior standout Jake Smith who injured his foot in the first quarter. Smith finished the game with only two points. Picking up the slack was Quinton Stevens who finished with 14 points while Jake Welch and Jordan McGowan each scored 12.

Bloomfield was led by Leighton Hensley and Seth HIll who each scored 8 points.

Twin Rivers 72, Van Buren 59

Sixth-seeded Twin Rivers started strong and easily got past Van Buren 72-59 to advance to the semifinals.

The Royals built a 44-19 lead at the half and then held off the pesky Van Buren squad to get the win.

Kyle Oberkramer led Twin Rivers with 17 points while Garret Stockton added 13. Van Buren was led by senior Tyler Freeze's 31 points.

Doniphan 56, Greenville 35

Doniphan recovered from being upset Friday to defeat Greenville 56-35 in a consolation quarterfinal Saturday morning.

The seventh-seeded Dons used a 15-5 third quarter to put Greenville away.

Greg Davis scored 23 points to lead Doniphan while Gavin Wilfong added 11. Dylan Rhoden scored 10 to lead Greenville.

Hayti 64, East Prairie 49

The fourth-seeded Hayti Indians used a strong second half to defeat East Prairie in a consolation quarterfinal Saturday morning.

Leading 28-26 at the half, Hayti pulled ahead 49-40 after three quarters and held on to eliminate the Eagles from the tournament.

Keenan Williams led Hayti with 13 points while Doriyon West and Denzel Presberry both chipped in 12 points apiece. Andrew Luster finished with 11.

East Prairie (3-4) was led in scoring by Ryan Jones and Conner Scott who both finished with 17 points.

South Pemiscot 63, East Carter 22

South Pemiscot rolled over East Carter County 63-22 to advance to the consolation semifinals.

Tyler Thompson scored 18 for South Pemiscot while Charles Taylor and Aaron Booker added 12 and 10 respectively.

Isaiah Yates scored 12 for East Carter.

Malden 2, Kennett 0

The Malden Green Wave advanced to the consolation semifinals after unfortunate circumstances led to a Kennett forfeit.

Midway through the first quarter a Kennett player collapsed on the floor and was down for several minutes before being transported to the Dexter Hospital. The Kennett players decided not to continue after the incident, forfeiting the game to Malden.