Risco holds off 'aggressive' Bulldogs in clash of ranked squads

RISCO – While every other high school varsity boy’s basketball program in Missouri was honing its skills and execution against competition over the past three weeks, South Pemiscot had to compete against itself in daily practices to try and grow as a team.

So it was little surprise that in their first game against someone other than themselves since Dec. 17, it took the Bulldogs a little bit of time to find its rhythm against Class 1 No. 3-ranked Risco on Tuesday at the historic Risco High School gymnasium.

South Pemiscot rallied late but ultimately fell to the Tigers 79-70.

“With that big of a layoff,” Bulldog coach Jordan McGowan said following the loss, “I thought we played a pretty good game.”

McGowan didn’t truly know what to expect from his team, which will play four games this week, and 13 games this month. South Pemiscot (3-1), which is ranked eighth in Class 2, dug itself a hole early in the contest and still trailed 60-48 early in the final period.

“I didn’t know how this was going to go,” McGowan continued. “We’re a little winded, but hopefully, we can get there.”

If the Bulldogs “get there,” it will be by utilizing its aggressive full-court press, which it unleashed on Risco.

South Pemiscot turned that double-digit deficit into a three-point margin (trailing 62-59 midway through the fourth quarter) but ran out of steam.

“(South Pemiscot) can turn up the defensive pressure on you to where you can’t get open,” veteran Risco coach Brandon Blankenship said following the win. “We pride ourselves in being able to execute offensively, and I told the guys that (South Pemiscot) was going to disrupt this to the point where you are just going to have to make a play.”

And no Tiger player knows how to “make a play” better than senior guard Sammy Smith.

Smith scored 11 of his game-high 35 points in the final period, including hitting 7 of 9 free throws, to help keep the frenzied Bulldogs at bay.

“Risco is a heckuva team,” McGowan said. “Sammy Smith is really talented. I thought we had a good game plan coming in, but he gave us all that we wanted, so hats off to him.”

Free throws proved critical, as South Pemiscot made one more (10 to 9) than Risco, but it missed 11 free throws in total.

“We really put an emphasis on making the right play,” Blankenship said. “Making a play doesn’t mean that ‘I have to go score,’ it means that ‘I have to go attack and if they slide over to me, I can dish or make the right play.’”

The Tigers (11-2) got 19 points from junior guard Eli Rodgers, nine from junior forward Owen Fortner, and eight from senior forward Landon Baker.

South Pemiscot was paced by junior Robert Farmer III with 27 points while senior Torrell Boyd (16 points) and sophomore Ty’Riquis Campbell (11 points) also contributed.

The Bulldogs waste no time in getting back into action. They travel to Van Buren today at 6 p.m. to battle Bakersfield (8-3), before hosting Malden (0-9) on Friday (7:30 p.m.) and visiting Portageville (4-7) on Saturday (5:15 p.m.).

Risco will travel to Bell City (6-5) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.