Bell City surges in third quarter to edge Meadow Heights in Christmas tournament opener

Bell City’s Blake Jarrell handles the ball while surrounded by Meadow Heights defenders in the first round of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 26, at the Show Me Center.

Daniel Winningham ~ Banner Press

Bell City used a 23-point third quarter to take advantage of a close contest with Meadow Heights, and then managed to hold on late for a 52-48 victory over the Panthers Dec. 26.

Meadow Heights led 11-10 after the first quarter and the game was tied at 20. The Cubs built a 47-32 advantage early in the fourth quarter and were outscored by the Panthers 16-5 the rest of the way. The nine points scored by Bell City in the fourth were tied for the lowest point total of any quarter of the game, as Meadow Heights also had nine points in the second quarter.

Luke Bixler, in his third year as Bell City head coach, earned the Cubs’ first opening round victory in the Christmas tournament since 2016.

“It’s really big,” Bixler said. “We’re trying to progress, trying to get better each day, so to be able to see us get in the winner’s bracket for the first time since I’ve been here it’s really cool. It’s good for our guys, it’s good for our program, and it means we’re trending in the right direction and ultimately to where we want to go and that’s playing against bigger schools and good competition.”

With the game knotted up at 20 through two quarters, Bixler wanted his players to be more aggressive, especially on offense.

“The message at halftime was to just be more aggressive,” he said. “I thought we were passive and just settled for a lot of 3s in the first half. We were getting open looks but they just weren’t really falling. I told our guys to be more aggressive, try to attack the zone, get some open looks inside and just get the ball moving. There was too much standing around in the first half. We did a better job of getting the ball inside in the second half.”

Even with a rather large edge late in the contest, Bixler was hoping to see his guys play more aggressive.

“We played almost not to lose rather than playing to win,” Bixler said. “The game kind of got back on our heels a little bit.”

Baylor Eftink led the Cubs with 13 points. Blake Jarrell finished with 11 points while Logan Pikey contributed 10 points.

Only four players figured in the scoring for Meadow Heights. Braeden Hays tallied a game-high 16 points. Mason Mayfield contributed 12 points while Damion Hulbert and Maison Whitener each scored 10 points in a losing effort.

Meadow Heights coach Gary Poyner said Bell City performed better after halftime.

“I think the two biggest things are that they came out in the second half and did a better job of executing and they came out with more intensity than we did,” Poyner said. “I feel like those were the two big differences in the game. They came out a little more focused. They did a better job of executing on both ends of the floor.”

Meadow Heights, now 3-4, will face Advance Friday, Dec. 27, at 10:30 a.m.

“It’s a quick turnaround for us,” Poyner said. “I told the boys the best thing you can do it just put it behind you, have a short memory, and come out in the morning ready to play. We have to come ready to play and with the intensity to play from the beginning of the game, we have to keep that intensity.”

Bell City, the no. 7 seed, advances to take on No. 2 Cape Central Friday, Dec. 27, at 6 p.m.