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Reindeer stun Bell City
Clarkton knocks off defending state champs
SIKESTON - Despite Clarkton's lofty No. 3 ranking in the Class 1 state poll, the Reindeer weren't given much of a chance against the defending state champions.
Overrated?
Try overlooked.
The Reindeer made believers out of the area and made the state pollsters look like geniuses with a 63-60 win against No. 5 ranked Bell City on Tuesday at the Sikeston Field House in a Class 1 Sectional game.
Clarkton (27-1) advances to the Class 1 Quarterfinals where they will play top-ranked Verona at the West Plains Civic Center on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Verona (29-0) defeated Bradleyville 60-46 in another sectional game.
Clarkton had been ridiculed all year by area observers for building its record against a light schedule.
Reindeer head coach Delane Beckwith said the talk just inspired his players even more.
"It's motivated the kids," said Beckwith. "We did this for Risco. We did this for the Tri-County Conference. We did this for Holcomb and Gideon."
Risco lost to Bell City 124-38 back on Feb. 14 to, perhaps, give Beckwith and the Reindeer even more incentive.
Clarkton certainly appeared to be on a mission on Tuesday.
In a thrilling game before a capacity Field House crowd, the Reindeer held off a late Bell City rally to pull off the victory.
Leading 63-60, Clarkton's David Mathis had a chance to ice the game with two free throws with 11 seconds left, but he missed both.
Bell City rebounded the miss and got the ball to all-state senior Eric Henry, but his 3-point shot was off the mark. The Cubs' Zak McIntyre got the offensive board but time expired before he could get off another shot.
And just like that, Bell City's quest for a repeat state championship was over.
"We didn't win the state championship this year, but I told the kids in there that doesn't make us a failure," said Bell City head coach David Heeb. "A lot of people are afraid to dream. And if you dream big then sometimes you get your feelings hurt. Tonight, this one hurt, but we're going to come right back and try to do the same thing next year."
Early on, it appeared the Cubs (24-6) were well on their way to another easy win as they built a 16-6 lead on a Kenyon Wright 3-pointer midway through the first quarter.
But the Reindeer closed the quarter strong with a 13-3 run to tie things up at 19-19.
Clarkton senior Andre Marsh, a transfer student from New Madrid County Central, scored nine straight points to end the first quarter.
The Cubs led 26-25 midway through the second quarter when Clarkton finished strong again, ending the half on an 11-0 run to take a 36-26 lead at the half.
Marsh again came up big, scoring nine points in a row, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
He scored 22 of his game-high 30 points in the first half.
"He was super," said Heeb of Marsh. "He really took the ball hard to the basket. He made a few shots that were really tough shots. In a big game like this, if a guy makes a couple shots like that then he starts thinking he's Superman. Marsh, he played a great game."
Clarkton led by as much as 44-33 on a Mathis 3-pointer in the third quarter, but Bell City was able to trim the lead to 45-39 heading into the final frame.
Bell City eventually took its first lead since the first half on a Randy Conn basket with 5:18 left to play to make it 51-50.
The Reindeer were able to regain the lead on some clutch free throw shooting down the stretch.
Clarkton, leading 62-58, appeared to have the game sealed when Tyler Miller stole the ball and was fouled with 21 seconds left.
Miller made one free throw, but Bell City's Ben Duncan scored on an offensive put-back to make it 63-60 with 13 seconds left to set up the final sequence.
The Cubs, which clinched the district championship with outstanding free throw shooting, could not get it done from the charity stripe on Tuesday, going just 8-of-19 on the night and just 3-of-9 in the fourth quarter.
Clarkton, meanwhile, made 10-of-14 from the line in the fourth quarter.
The Reindeer also controlled the boards with 6-foot-5 junior Michael Ray grabbing 13 on the night to go with his nine points and six blocked shots.
"Michael Ray has been on the boards all year long," said Beckwith. "He's just a phenomenal rebounder, a phenomenal athlete, he blocks a lot of shots. That's what he plays for. Rebounding is what wins ballgames and that's why we're 27-1."
Mathis added 16 points for the Reindeer.
Henry scored 22 points in his final high school game.
Returning second team all-stater Dominitrix Johnson was limited to nine points while going just 1-of-6 from the free throw line.
Wright finished with 15 points, including four 3-pointers.
Heeb said the physical play of the Reindeer took his team out of their game.
"I thought we took poor shots and I think they had a lot to do with that," said Heeb. "They stood (Johnson and Henry) up a lot on the perimeter and they used their hands. It was consistent both ways, they let us do the same thing. I thought we settled for bad shots and they didn't for the most part."