Tri-County Conference Tournament: Gideon rallys over Holcomb, Risco skates past North Pemiscot

CARDWELL, Mo. - The Tri-County boys basketball tournament got underway at Southland High School on Monday, Feb. 10.

All eight teams in the conference battled to make their way out of the first round and avoid elimination. Obviously, only four were successful in their attempt. Here is a recap of night one as the tournament heads into the semi-finals.

The No. 2 Gideon Bulldogs survive No. 7 ranked Holcomb Hornets.

The final score of 61-36 gives the appearance of an easy win for the Bulldogs, but the first half was not leaning in their favor.

Two teams, who just met a week prior, would face each other for the second time this season.

Holcomb three-point shooting in the second quarter not only kept them in the game, but it gave them a 28-25 lead heading into halftime.

After only putting up seven points in the first quarter, the Hornets scored five three-pointers in the second quarter to take the lead.

Sophomore Christopher Bowen and junior Stephen Bradshaw each had eight points in the first half for Holcomb.

Bowen would finish the game as Holcomb’s top scorer with 11 points.

Gideon’s head coach Keenan Buchanan noted his team looked a little sluggish in the first half after traveling to Indian over the weekend.

“We were able to turn things up that second half, but we were just slow in the first half,” Buchanan said. “We just had to start doing what we are supposed to do instead of settling for threes. By the second half, they finally responded and stopped letting [Holcomb] get so many open threes and I was proud of that.”

Buchanan switched up the defense to make sure Holcomb would cool off. Gideon kept the Hornets at only eight points for the entire second half while they began to run up the scoreboard.

Gideon senior Drake Montgomery, who was held scoreless in the first half, finished with a game-high 18 points.

He came out with 11 points in the third quarter, including a three-pointer. Three other Bulldogs would join Montgomery in double digits to help secure their victory. Senior Jacob Plunkett would score 12 points while junior Landon Weaver followed right behind with 11 points. The fourth player in double digits for Gideon was another senior, Hayden Lacewell, who scored 10 points.

Since the turn of the new year, Gideon has only dropped two games, going on a 9-2 run. Now, approaching the end of their season, Buchanan was proud to make it past the first round. However, he knows the competition will just get heftier as the tournament continues.

“Hopefully we’ll be ready now,” Buchanan said. “Hopefully we come out and play better the next game.”

No.1 ranked Risco skates past No. 8 North Pemiscot

The Risco Tigers, 20-2, were the high favorites in this tournament and this matchup.

At halftime, the score was 45-4.

Risco’s head coach Brandon Blankenship still didn’t want his guys to take anything for granted in this game or this tournament. He knows there is a target on their backs right now and he is telling his players to remember the fundamentals which makes them so hard to beat.

“At this point in the season, you definitely want your guys staying sharp,” Blankenship said. “I really want them thinking about defense, honestly. We know how to score and we put up a lot of points there, but I want them to pass the ‘eye test’ on their defensive effort tonight.”

Following a four-point first half, with the clock running, Risco would limit North Pemiscot to six points in the second half. Meanwhile, the Tigers nearly matched their first-half performance with 42 points leaving the final score at 87-10.

Senior Sammy Smith led the Tigers with 18 points. Fellow senior Landon Baker and junior Owen Fortner followed closely behind, each scoring 15 points. Along with those three, senior Kadin Carlisle would put up 13 points from the bench.

Advancing in the tournament, Blankenship knows his team is the one to beat. He wants his players to be ready for whatever can be thrown at them.

“We just want to stay consistent with our effort,” Blankenship said. “Really that’s it. We have seen every team in this conference so we know what to expect and they know what to expect from us. Honestly, we have some really good coaches in the Tri-County. They will game plan to make adjustments against us and we have to be ready. We don’t and won’t overlook anybody and we will just take it one game at a time.”

As Gideon and Risco advance, they are set to play in the semi-final on Tuesday, Feb. 11.

Gideon will go up against the No. 6 seeded Southland. Southland upset the No. 3 seeded Cooter in the first round to advance.

Likewise, Clarkton upset the No. 4 seeded Delta C-7. As the No. 5 seed, Clarkton will now face Risco.

Check out the full recap of Clarkton and Southland’s upset victories in the first round at the Delta Dunklin Democrat.