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Can Puxico turn top seed into Bloomfield Christmas Tournament title?
Even after suffering their first loss season, the Puxico Indians are still riding high to start this season of boys basketball.
Puxico suffered it first loss of the season Saturday evening when it lost 58-50 to Thayer in a battle of state-ranked teams — the Indians are tied for fifth in the most recent Class 2 coaches poll, while Thayer was fifth in Class 3.
Despite Saturday’s loss, the Indians enter the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament as the top seed and are favored by many to win the tournament.
“We are playing well right now — we have defended and rebounded pretty well,” Puxico coach Bryant Fernetti said. “We have the offense most nights, but we have to rebound and defend to win the tournament. There are too many good teams to not defend and rebound at a high level and expect to win.”
The Indians (5-1) open the tournament at 10 a.m. Thursday against 16th-seeded Gideon. If the Indians win that game, they will take on the winner of the following game (11:15 a.m. Thursday) between Richland (eighth seed) and Twin Rivers (No. 9 seed) at 4 p.m. Friday.
Both of those squads have wins over higher seeded foes at Bloomfield, as Richland downed No. 3 seed Dexter last week and Twin Rivers beat No. 7 Van Buren last Thursday.
Van Buren opens play at the tournament at 5 p.m. Thursday against No. 10 seed Doniphan, with the winner of that game likely facing off against No. 2 seed — and defending tournament champion — East Prairie in second-round action at 7 p.m. Friday.
“I think it’s going to be a fun tournament,” Doniphan coach Hunter Dilbeck said. “There are a lot of really good teams in that tournament and we’re going in as underdogs. For us, it’s just getting us into that mindset (where) we go in and disrupt a few people’s brackets and get our name on the map. We had a down year last year, and we’re trying to get back into it, so that’s our mindset. It’s going to be a deep field, and it’s going to be a lot of fun — it’ll be four fun days.”
One team making its return to the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament is East Carter, who was added to the tournament along with Risco after Hayti and South Pemiscot were removed from the tournament field.
The 12th-seeded Redbirds open the tournament at 2:15 p.m. Thursday against No. 5 seed Kennett.
“We’re excited to be back in it,” East Carter coach Kurt Penn said. “It’s a great tournament that’s been going on for many years. We were in it a long time ago and part of our community was hurt that we got out of it, (so) they’re super excited to be back into it. Our kids are pumped up, the community’s pumped up and I’m pumped up. I grew up in Portageville watching coach (Jim) Bidewell compete in those games every single year. It’s just an honor to be back in that tournament.”
Other first-round games Thursday include No. 4 Bernie vs No. 13 Portageville at 12:45 p.m., No. 2 East Prairie vs. No. 15 Holcomb at 3:45 p.m., No. 3 Dexter vs. No. 14 Malden at 6:30 p.m. and No. 6 Risco vs. No. 11 Bloomfield at 8 p.m.
Second-round games on both the winner’s and consolation sides of the bracket will take place Friday, while semifinals and consolation semifinals contests are slated for Saturday. The tournament concludes next Monday with the consolation championship at 4 p.m., the fifth-place game at 5:30 p.m., the third-place game at 7 p.m. and the tournament championship at 8:30 p.m.
Fernetti is hopeful his team will be playing in that last game.
“A lot of people here in Puxico are excited to participate in it,” Fernetti said. “We always have a lot of fans that come and support our guys no matter what time of day we play. It is a great measuring test for where we are and what we may be able to accomplish later on in the year.
“Bloomfield’s gym is a great venue to play in, especially when the gym is packed and loud. I enjoy being a part of a staple tournament in this area. We hope to be in the winner’s bracket side and playing the late night games with the gym being packed.”