Bearcats escape Portageville in a day of few first round upsets at Bloomfield

sports@standard-democrat.com

BLOOMFIELD -- Nearly undone by a rough third quarter, the seventh-seeded Dexter Bearcats escaped the opening round of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Thursday with a 54-49 win over 11th-seeded Portageville.

"We had a good first half and then in the second half I think we got tired a little bit at times," Dexter head coach Rob Nichols said. "It said a lot about our kids, especially playing three sophomores out there, plus we play several juniors who don't have much experience.

Dexter's DJ Dowdy controls his dribble against Portageville in the first round of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Thursday night. (David Jenkins photo)

Dexter's DJ Dowdy controls his dribble against Portageville in the first round of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Thursday night. (David Jenkins photo)

"It said something about their character and their mental makeup because Portageville tied us up twice and went ahead once. Our kids went down and made a play."

The Bulldogs' second half surge came as a surprise after a lackluster first two quarters left them down by as many as 16 points before entering halftime trailing 24-12.

With back-to-back baskets to open the third quarter, however, Portageville seized the momentum en rout to a 16-5 run over in the first five minutes of the half. That run put them within six and it wasn't long after, with 1:12 left in the period, that a Jaylin Mosby 3-pointer gave them their only lead of the game at 32-31.

"The only thing we did really was we came out and decided to full court press," Bulldogs' head coach Jason Irby said of second half adjustments. "We got some turnovers off that and it helped get our kids going a little bit."

A layup by D.J. Dowdy on the Bearcats' next possession gave Dexter the lead back and they'd head into the fourth with a slim 35-32 advantage.

That three-point difference remained intact going into the final minute of the game and with 47 seconds to play A.V. Banks was fouled on his way to the basket. Banks hit his shot and the ensuing free throw to tie things at 49-49.

Dowdy quickly drove down the floor on the ensuing possession and hit a mid-range jumper to once again put his team ahead, 51-49.

Portageville burned a timeout before coming down the floor and sending up a 3-point attempt to try and take the lead only to see the Bearcats come down with the rebound. A pass to Cole Renken gave the sophomore an open shot in the paint to extend his team's lead to four points, 53-49, with nine seconds to play.

"That was a big play there at the end," Nichols said. "We were expecting to shoot free throws and we never get to that point because we made a play and got an easy bucket."

One final Bulldog turnover allowed Peyton Pollock to hit a free throw and seal the game.

With his final basket Renken finished with a game-high 18 points, including 14 in the second half while going 4 of 5 at the free throw line.

Pollock was second on the squad with 16 points and Dowdy was the third Bearcat in double digits with 10 points.

For Portageville, Banks had a team-high 11 points with Derrick Priggel and Fradreico Walton scoring 10 and nine points respectively.

"We're haven't put together a solid four quarters so far any night this year," Irby said. "We're just not good enough to overcome those bad stretches. We had 25 turnovers tonight and 17 were by our guards.

"They're playing hard, we just have to get better."

With the win Dexter moves on to play the second-seeded Hayti Indians tonight at 8:30 p.m. in the tournament quarterfinals. Portageville moves to the consolation bracket, where they'll face 15th-seeded Van Burn today at 1 p.m.

All games are at Bloomfield High School.

Dexter 9 15 11 19 -- 54

Portageville 5 7 20 17 -- 49

DEXTER (54) -- D.J. Dowdy 10, Peyton Pollock 16, Ethan Flowers 7, Chandler Young 3, Cole Renken 18. FG 19, FT 12-21, F 15. (3-pointers: Dowdy 1, Pollock 2, Flowers 1. Fouled out: none.)

PORTAGEVILLE (49) -- Fradreico Walton 9, Carlos McGee 6, Jaylin Mosby 6, Chris Garmon 2, Derrick Priggel 10, A.V. banks 11, Caleb Gooch 5. FG 17, FT 11-15, F 21. (3-pointers: Mosby 2, Banks 2. Fouled out: none.)

Twin Rivers 84, East Prairie 58

BLOOMFIELD -- The 11th-seeded East Prairie Eagles fell 84-58 to fifth-seeded Twin Rivers on Thursday.

The Eagles were outscored 43-29 in the final two quarters to seal the loss.

Damion Tipler had a team-high 24 points for East Prairie, including 16 in the second half.

Twin Rivers moves on to play third-seeded Bernie tonight at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals while East Prairie will play 14th-seeded Puxico today at 11:30 a.m.

Twin Rivers 21 20 26 17 - 84

East Prairie 13 16 14 15 - 58

TWIN RIVERS (84) -- Zach Underberg 3, Jase Worley 3, Nathan Wabon 12, Chance Wilkerson 6, Jesse Robards 2, Andrew Mittlestadt 10, Eric Ray 35, Mason Douglas 5, Seth Snider 8. FG 35, FT 11-15, F 13. (3-pointers: Underberg 1, Worley 1, Douglas 1. Fouled out: none.)

EAST PRAIRIE (58) -- Seth Johnson 2, Seth bays 5, Dustin Bryars 10, Brett Ellis 2, Mack Marcum 10, Damion Tipler 24, Deverance Jones 3, Brandon Evans 2. FG 24, FT 6-11, F 14. (3-pointers: Bays 1, Bryars 2, Jones 1. Fouled out: none.)

Kennett 104, Richland 50

BLOOMFIELD -- Taking a 36-point lead into halftime, top-seeded Kennett rolled to a 104-50 win over 16th-seed Richland.

Kevonte Mitchell had a game-high 28 points for the Indians, including 18 in the first two quarters. Akeem Nelson and Rantrell Caruthers had 15 and 11 points respectively.

For Richland, Skyler Harper had 16 points and Adam Lane added 15 points.

Kennett will play ninth-seeded Malden in the quarterfinals today at 4 p.m. and Richland will face Holcomb in the consolation bracket today at 2:30 p.m.

Kennett 33 28 28 15 - 104

Richland 9 16 20 5 - 50

KENNETT (104) -- Antavies Drake 22, Rantrell Caruthers 11, Carlos Turner 7, Akeem Nelson 15, Landan Vaughn 7, Kevonte Mitchell 28, Andre Oliver 6, Jerry Kinnon 2, Anthony Hawkins 2, Materion Jones 4. FG 48, FT 5-6, F 15. (3-pointers: Turner 1, Vaughn 1, Mitchell 1. Fouled out: none.)

RICHLAND (50) -- Skyler Harper 16, Tristan Wamble 3, Jacob Gonzales 1, Marcus Grayson 1, Josh Thorton 12, Tristan Montgomery 2, Adam lane 15. FG 20, FT 8-15, F 7. (3-pointers: Harper 1, Wamble 1. Fouled out: none.)

Bloomfield 63, Saxony Lutheran 48

BLOOMFIELD -- In what was easily the biggest upset of the tournament's opening round, 12th-seeded Bloomfield stunned No. 5 Saxony Lutheran 63-48.

The Wildcats trailed by 14-points at the half, but outscored the Crusaders 17-4 in the third quarter to close within a point. Continuing the assault, Bloomfield outscored Saxony 27-11 in the fourth to take the lead and hold on for the win.

Noah Vandiver's 22 points led the way for the Wildcats, including 10 points in the final period.

Bloomfield will play fourth-seeded South Pemiscot tonight at 5:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals while the Crusaders play 13th-seeded Doniphan today at 10 a.m.

Saxony 20 13 4 11 - 48

Bloomfield 11 8 17 27 - 63

SAXONY LUTHERAN (48) -- Zach Beal 10, Ryan Palmer 14, Hunter Coe 5, Jack Lake 19. FG 16, FT 10-21, F 17. (3-pointers: Palmer 4, Coe 1, Lake 1. Fouled out: none.)

BLOOMFIELD (63) -- Nathan Newell 13, Tim Fox 4, Jacob Clary 2, Noah Vandiver 22, Triston Mitchell 16, Austin Bond 6. FG 24, FT 14-18, F 19. (3-pointers: Newell 1. Fouled out: none.)

Bernie 72, Puxico 38

BLOOMFIELD -- The third-seeded Bernie Mules took down 14th-seeded Puxico 72-38.

Bubby Schwent had a game-high 17 points for Bernie while Jake Wagner and Caleb Ellenberg scored 12 and 11 points respectively. Justin Stanfield was the fourth Mule in double digits with 10 points.

Corey Pratt had a team-high 13 points for the Indians.

Bernie 20 21 19 12 - 72

Puxico 8 11 15 4 - 38

BERNIE (72) -- Matt Vernon 5, Jake Wagner 12, B.J. Jennings 9, Justin Stanfield 10, J.R. Pregel 4, Bubby Schwent 17, Joey Walker 4, Caleb Ellenberg 11. FG 23, FT 20-29, F 17. (3-pointers: Vernon 1, Wagner 2, Jennings 1, Stanfield 2. Fouled out: none.)

PUXICO (38) -- Ronnie Wegener 4, Garrett Payne 6, Corey Pratt 13, Austin Tiechman 4, Zach McCoy 2, Seth Luttrull 4, Zach Tucker 5. FG 16, FT 6-11, F 22. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: Tim Hancock, Tucker.)

Hayti 76, Van Buren 46

BLOOMFIELD -- Second-seeded Hayti defeated 15th-seeded Van Buren 76-46.

Demetrius Luster had a game-high 24 points for the Indians with Devan Riddick and Indaquel Presberry scoring 13 points each.

Tyler Griffin led Van Buren with 22 points while hitting three 3-pointers.

Hayti 27 19 6 24 - 76

Van Buren 9 17 11 9 - 46

HAYTI (76) -- Kenyatte Brooks 8, Devan Riddick 13, Cedric Harris 5, Indaquel Presberry 13, Brandon Burden 7, Demetrius Luster 24, Frankie Burden 6. FG 29, FT 11-18, F 16. (3-pointers: Brooks 2, Riddick 1, Harris 1, Presberry 2, Luster 1. Fouled out: Burden.)

VAN BUREN (46) -- Austin Chilton 10, Zach Griffin 9, Tyler Griffin 22, Ricky Davis 5. FG 17, FT 5-12, F 11. (3-pointers: Chilton 1, Zach Griffin 3, Tyler Griffin 3. Fouled out: none.)

South Pemiscot 60, Doniphan 47

BLOOMFIELD -- Fourth-seeded South Pemiscot defeated 13th-seeded Doniphan 60-47.

Jacob Trammel had a game-high 19 points for South Pemiscot and the Dons were led by Wyatt Eaton's 15 points.

S. Pemiscot 15 10 18 17 - 60

Doniphan 11 10 13 13 - 47

SOUTH PEMISCOT (60) -- Jarvis Johnson 6, Torrance Shepard 5, Anthony Primer 10, Jacob Trammel 19, Glen Jackson 6, Anton Wilburn 6, Contrell Johnson 8. FG 24, FT 5-16, F 20. (3-pointers: Trammel 5, Johnson 1. Fouled out: none.)

DONIPHAN (47) -- Clay Payne 6, Justin Harder 5, Brett Hale 5, Lucas Moe 10, Wyatt Eaton 15, Stephen Murphy 4, Seth Gettings 2. FG 17, FT 12-17, F 19. (3-pointers: Hale 1. Fouled out: Payne.)

Malden 70, Holcomb 67

The Malden Green Wave pulled off a mild upset beating the defending champion, No. 8 Holcomb Hornets 70-67 in the final game of the night.

No. 9 Malden was led by Cortez Dobbins' 34 points.

Holcomb 18 13 15 21 -- 67

Malden 11 21 14 24 -- 70

HOLCOMB (67) - Ben Vance 6, Bub Davis 20, Preston Sikes 11, Skyler Johnson 3, Cameron Clark 14, Ryan Reeves 13. FG 24, FT 18/32, F 23. (3-pointers: Clark 1. Fouled out: Davis)

MALDEN (70) - Trevor Ison 6, Cortez Dobbins 34, Dremond Robinson 5, Reggie Reed 2, Jeremy Jones 4, Edwin Hale 4, Chauncey McBride 4, Shaeen Perkins 9, Team 2. FG 23, FT 23/32, F 25. (3-pointers: Perkins 1. Fouled out: Jones)