Stars to be out late on opening night in Bloomfield

Bloomfield High School senior guard Caleb Upchurch dishes a pass to a teammate in a recent game against Advance at Bloomfield High School.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

BLOOMFIELD – There will be no shortage of star power in the finale of the opening day of the 68th annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, as No. 6-seed Risco (7-1) will battle the host Wildcats (4-2) at 8 p.m. on Thursday.

The Tigers, who are ranked No. 4 in Class 1, feature lanky senior guard Sammy Smith, who already has had games of 30 points (against Delta C-7) and 35 points (against Doniphan).

“He can score,” veteran Risco coach Brandon Blankenship told Semoball.com of Smith’s ability recently. “He can take it to the hole, shoot the mid-range, and shoot the three. He can score on all three levels there.

“If he gets in rhythm, it’s tough for the other team. When he’s playing like that, it’s good for us.”

Meanwhile, Bloomfield has a superb scorer of its own, albeit in a much stockier package.

Wildcat senior guard Caleb Upchurch can score in a multitude of manners, but he is most dangerous off the bounce.

“(Upchurch) does a really good job of getting back to his right hand (for drives) always,” second-year Advance coach Dalton Wilson explained after Upchurch lit the Hornets up for 30 points recently. “You have to force him left and he is very strong.

“He has a really good touch.”

Upchurch doesn’t have the length of Smith, but he has the strength to finish through contact and get to the free throw line.

“It is one of those things where (Upchurch) holds everybody around him accountable,” second-year Bloomfield coach Ben Sindle said of Upchurch’s leadership in the weight room. “Caleb is going to do all of his reps and all of his sets in the weight room. He’s a kid who doesn’t miss a day during the school days to come and work out.”

Upchurch has a quick first step, and once he gets an angle on his defender, he has the strength to hold the defense off while he moves into the paint or finishes at the rim.

“(Upchurch) is just a super hard worker in the weight room,” Sindle continued, “and all of the kids feed off of him in there.”

The importance of Upchurch has been magnified this season after the recent loss of senior forward Kayden Craft, who is out until mid-January with an ankle injury.

“Caleb just works his tail off,” Sindle said. “He does a lot of the little things. Kayden is a great leader, but so is Caleb.

“Clearly, whenever he starts playing good, the other guys kind of feed off of that.”