C2S2: Puxico senior lurks in the shadows to be a 'pest' to opponents

There is no shortage of players who capture your attention when watching Class 2-power Puxico.

The Indians have a phenomenal backcourt of juniors Landan Burchard and Jett Hancock while their senior frontcourt of Scyler Zimmerman (at 6-foot-4) and, of course, the mane of Karsyn Long, can’t be forgotten after watching them do all of the dirty work in the paint.

But senior Mason Parsley? Which one is he again?

“Mason is a good player,” fourth-year Puxico coach Bryant Fernetti said, “so if somebody else puts their fourth or fifth-best player on him, he’s going to have a mismatch.

“He can do that.”

Parsley and his eye-catching teammates will battle Valley (20-5) on Monday at 6 p.m. at Bloomfield High School in the MSHSAA Class 2 Sectional 2.

Against Charleston on Friday in the championship game of the MSHSAA Class 2 District 3, it was Parsley, a 5-foot-8 guard, who sealed the victory, which was the second consecutive such title for the Class 2 No. 4-ranked Indians.

In the final period, Burchard, Hancock, Zimmerman, and Long totaled just five combined points, but Puxico didn’t need much offense from those guys, because senior guard Mason Parsley took over the game late.

Parsley scored nine of his 11 points in the final stretch of play.

“Mason can shoot it,” Fernetti said, “and (defensively), he can anticipate getting steals.

“He’s kind of a pest on defense. He does a lot of good things for us.”

That is an aspect of play in which Puxico has excelled this season.

After winning 23 games and allowing nearly 54 points per game a season ago, the Indians (25-3) are simply stymieing teams this year offensively.

Puxico is holding opponents to just over 45 points per game and that was evident in the C2D3 tournament.

Charleston averaged almost 70 points per game, but Puxico held it to a measly 42 points in the title game.

“We had a plan,” Fernetti explained, “We knew what we wanted to do to try and gap it (shutting off lanes) and try to make them make jump shots and then rebound.

“We knew coming into the game that rebounding was the key, and we rebounded well.”

In the semifinal round, the Indians limited Chaffee, which typically scores nearly 52 points per game, to just 37 points.

Puxico will be going for its second straight Sectional championship while the Vikings’ Class 2 District 4 title win (55-43) over Meadow Heights was the program's first in at least 16 seasons.