BCT Game 7: Richland zones out Dons

BLOOMFIELD -- Richland zoned Doniphan right into the consolation bracket of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

The Dons struggled offensively in the first three quarters Friday night and Richland pulled away in the second half for a 62-40 upset of the seventh seed.

"I thought we really had a fire under us defensively and got a spark," Richland coach Casey Knight said.

The Rebels (2-5) will play Portageville in the final game Saturday night after holding the Dons (3-3) to 19 points through three quarters Friday night.

Doniphan doubled its point total in the final 6 minutes, but couldn't overcome a 23-point Richland lead.

"I take my hat off to Richland, they came out ready to go," Dons coach Jason Andrews said.

Ryan Kleffer scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the second quarter for the Rebels while Drew Thornton added 18 points and Mac Thornton added 11.

Taylor Smith scored 11 points to lead the Dons (3-3), who shot 39.5 percent from the field, including 3-of-15 from 3-point range.

"I think our poor shooting performance early affected every aspect of our game," Andrews said.

Doniphan hit just 4 of its first 15 shots and trailed 9-4 after one quarter but only trailed by eight at halftime despite shooting 27 percent from the field.

Richland led 23-15 at halftime but quickly pulled away in the second half. After the two teams traded buckets to open the third quarter, the Rebels scored 10 straight points and kept the Dons off the scoreboard for 5 full minutes.

By the time Greg Davis got a steal and scored to end the drought, Doniphan trailed 35-19 with 1:27 left in the third quarter. Richland led 40-19 heading into the fourth.

"We're stronger with the zone (defense)," Knight said. "I was just worried about the coverage."

Richland forced the Dons into jump shots and outrebounded Doniphan 35-21 while shooting 53 percent.

RICHLAND -- Thornton 7 4-6 18. Kleffer 8(1) 2-2 19. Brown 2(1) 0-0 5. Jer.McGarity 1 0-1 2. Thornton 5 1-3 11. Jon.McGarity 3 1-2 7. Totals 26(2) 8-14 62.

DONIPHAN -- Smith 5(1) 0-1 11. Granier 3(1) 2-2 9. Rush 1(1) 0-0 3. Cape 1 0-0 2. Wilfong 3 1-4 7. Davis 4 0-2 8. Asay 0. Totals 17(3) 3-9 40.