Raiders hound Moberly

Jeremy Marrs dunks for the first two points of the game Saturday night, Jan. 31, 2009, at the Bess Activity Center in Poplar Bluff, Mo. (Daily American Rebpulic/Rob Tate) [Click to enlarge]

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Three Rivers Raiders kept their Region XVI streak rolling Saturday night.

The Raiders led from start to finish as they defeated Moberly 79-53 to move to 5-0 in region play. The Raiders swept the season series against Moberly, which has not beaten Three Rivers since the 2005-06 season.

"I have been really interested in seeing our guys get to another level," Raiders coach Gene Bess said. "We looked like we could get to that other level if we keep practicing hard and playing a good game like we did tonight."

Richard Walker, who started in place of an injured Josh Terry, finished with 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field and Adam Carpenter added 13 points in the win for the Raiders.

Three Rivers got off to an early 8-0 lead as Jeremy Marrs got a dunk to start the game and Carpenter made two free throws. Walker scored four straight points, the last two on a layup at the 17:13 mark.

"He was coming in knowing he was going to have to pull down a couple more rebounds than usual knowing that Josh was out," Carpenter said. "He did a really good job moving without the ball and just finding open spots and he was getting easy 10-footers."

After a Moberly basket, Walker scored eight of the next 12 points for the Raiders, the last two at the 11:23 mark of the first half which gave Three Rivers a 20-8 lead.

"Just the floater and going to the middle of the court (was working)," Walker said. "In high school, I played a lot of zone so I am kind of used to it."

The Raiders took a 49-24 lead into the half in large part to Walker, who had 18 points, and Carpenter, who scored all his points in the first 20 minutes.

"As a shooter, you just have to keep shooting and keep having confidence, it doesn't matter how many you miss, you have to keep thinking the next one is going in," Carpenter said. "Tonight, I found myself open a lot more than usual and I just hit them."

The Raiders brought the same intensity to the second half as they started the game with. They outscored the Greyhounds 13-7 in the first 7 minutes of the second half and even took a 31-point lead in the second half as they cruised to the win.

The Raiders defeated the Greyhounds by 24 earlier this season and even in the win, learned how to better attack Moberly.

"We had an excellent scouting report," Bess said. "(Assistant) Coach Brian (Bess) and (Assistant) coach (Will) Durden do a good job communicating. We had a real good feel for what they were doing.

"I thought our energy level was good which is what I was really worried about."

Notes: The Raiders outrebounded the Greyhounds, 39-28. ... Jeff Shelton led the Raiders with five assists. ... Marrs finished the game with nine blocks on the night after having eight in the first half. ... The Raiders had 15 second-chance points as compared to nine for the Greyhounds. ... Ken Bingham scored 10 points for the Raiders. ... Sam Pearson, Moberly guard and Region XVI leading scorer, did not play in the loss due to a swollen knee.