Bernie, Aycock wears Greenville down

BERNIE – Kudos to the Greenville High School varsity boy’s basketball team. The Bears hung with their counterpart from Bernie for a bit on Thursday at Bernie High School. But methodically, the Mules dominated over the final 24 minutes to easily prevail 85-67.

“Bernie is always going to be the best-conditioned team,” Greenville interim coach Jim Jones said following the loss. “They are always in better shape than anybody they play.”

That was evident post halftime.

The Mules (14-6) led 38-31 in the final seconds of the opening half when sophomore forward Hunter Massey got his own missed shot and knocked in a jumper at the buzzer for a 40-31 advantage. That momentum carried over into the third quarter, as Bernie blew open the game by scoring 29 points in the next eight minutes.

“In the second half,” Bernie coach Jason Long said, “we got the speed of the game going. The pace favored us some. Our kids did a really good job sharing the ball.”

The Mules made the Bears (11-12) defense work whether it was in transition or off a half-court set. Bernie’s players hit cutters for finishes at the rim, or guys on the break, and led 69-51 entering the final period.

“Bernie shot the ball really well in the second half,” Jones said. “We got a little tired and were a little bit late to the 3-point line.”

The Mules wore the Beas down with a menacing 1-2-2 press that made the visitors work just to get into a half-court offensive set. Offensively, the Mules simply took advantage of having the best player in the game.

Mule sophomore center Jon Aycock scored 19 of his career-best 40 points in the third quarter.

“Jon did a really good job putting the ball in the hole,” Long said. “It was high percentage shots.”

The outing by the 6-foot-4 athlete wasn’t a matter of his shooting every time down the floor. Aycock hit teammates with passes when the Bears collapsed onto him, and he also got to the free-throw line because Greenville had no answer for containing him.

Aycock went to the line 14 times and sank 12 of those shots.

“It wasn’t just necessarily his shooting,” Long said. “He got several offensive boards and ‘stick-backs.’ He did a good job at the free-throw line, as well.”

The victory was an impressive one for Bernie, as Greenville had won five of seven games entering Thursday’s battle.

“We were a little bit slow off our feet (defensively),” Jones said. “The Aycock kid got going and is really good.”

The Bears had dropped their opener to Twin Rivers 67-52 in the Ozark Foothills Conference while Bernie has now won three of its last four games.

The Mules also got 10 points from sophomore point guard Blayne Morgan while sophomore guard Cane Hobgood added 12 and senior Taven Owens chipped in nine.

Greenville was paced by senior guard Cooper Sturgeon, who had 27 points and senior Jimmy Marler added 13 points.

Bernie will host Malden (1-19) today at 7:30 p.m.

Greenville will host Ellington (6-11) on Tuesday at 6 p.m.