Bell City focus, maturity to be tested in 'back-to-earth' game

Bell City High School junior center Kale Richardson looks to score against the defense of Richland (Essex) High School senior forward Tucker Hughes during the recent Oran Invitational Tournament at Oran High School.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

Third-year Bell City High School varsity boy’s basketball coach Luke Bixler implored his Cub players during the recent Oran Invitational Tournament to remain focused throughout the 32 minutes of each game.

The same message could be delivered tonight, as the upstart Cubs (3-0) visit Advance (0-2) at 7:30 p.m. Nothing would make the Hornets more content than bringing Bell City back down to earth after the Cubs won the OIT for the first time in 19 seasons and are feeling very good about themselves right now.

“We’ve got to stay focused,” Bell City junior guard Jake Asher said after helping his team knock off top-seed Richland (Essex) in the OIT. “We did a good thing. We won the tournament for the first time in 19 years.

“But we all know that the real focus is February 28 and the (MSHSAA Class 1 District 2) championship.”

Wow. Asher has the specific date in his mind already, which says something about Bell City learning to have the maturity that goes with success.

“We know that we have to come in next week and practice hard,” Asher continued. “We need to still play a good game and keep working in practice no matter what.”

That was Bixler’s message to his players after they beat Chaffee in the OIT semifinals, a game that his team’s focus drifted late.

“Good teams will put it together for four quarters,” Bixler said. “They don’t get content.

“When (good teams) see a lead,” Bixler continued, “they just build on it.”

That is how the Cubs handled their title-clinching win over the Rebels.

After allowing Chaffee to score 24 points in the final eight minutes, the Cub defense held Richland (Essex) to just 10 points in the final period and only 22 in the second half.

Now, the question is, can a euphoric Bell City group play focused and disciplined basketball on a random Tuesday night, against a team that hasn’t won yet, and wants to make a splash by knocking off the Cubs?

“We’re a veteran team now,” Bixler said. “I say veteran, we’re a bunch of juniors and seniors, so all of the kids have experience playing. I think that has kind of helped. You can start to see a little bit of maturity in some of those guys.”