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INSTANT CLASSIC: Puxico rallies from 10-point deficit to win Bloomfield Christmas Tournament in OT
BLOOMFIELD — The top-seeded Puxico Indians came from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat the third-seeded Dexter Bearcats 64-60 in an overtime classic to win the championship title of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Monday night.
It is the Indians’ first Bloomfield Christmas Tournament title since 1989.
This was a championship game worthy of the name, with outstanding play on both sides and drama worthy of the most dramatic cliffhangers that Hollywood has to offer.
People will talk about this game for many years to come as one of the best this tournament has featured.
“Last year, we had a hard loss, and we wanted to redeem ourselves,” said Puxico coach Bryant Fernetti afterwards. “Dexter made that extremely difficult, obviously. They’re a great team, but we’re going to enjoy this tonight and enjoy the fact that we were able to find a way to win.”
Puxico’s leading scorer was Mason Parsley, who connected for four 3-pointers in the second half on his way to scoring 17. Teammates Jett Hancock scored 15 points, while Landan Burchard put in 12.
Dexter was paced by John Sepulvado with a game-high 21 points, with teammate Tucker Temples scoring 17, including the Trey that sent the game to overtime.
Puxico improved their season record of 9-1, while Dexter fell to 6-6 after using three earlier wins in the tournament to shake off a five-game losing streak.
“They played their butts off this week, so I couldn’t be more proud of those guys," Dexter coach Chad Allen said. "We’ve come a long way since the beginning of the year, and we’ve definitely improved a lot, but it hurts not to get this one.”
With both teams from Stoddard County competing for the title, the Bloomfield gymnasium was standing-room only, and the crowd, evenly divided between the teams, roared in support with each basket made to start the game.
Dexter took the early lead with effective shooting, but Puxico’s full-court defense slowed the Bearcats’ momentum, and the Indians ended the first quarter up 15-14.
As the pace picked up in the second quarter, Puxico found itself on the end of a frenetic flurry of turnovers and Bearcats breakaways that put them into a 10-point hole at halftime at 29-19.
The Indians came out in the third quarter dropping 3-pointers galore, but Dexter answered each one with points of its own, preventing Puxico from building an extended run to cut into the lead.
The Bearcats led 45-37 going into the final period.
“I thought some of our guys started hesitating when they were shooting,” Fernetti said. “In practice, we have confidence they’re going to make those shots, so I reiterated that confidence and told them to keep attacking.”
Parsley hit another triple to start the fourth, cutting Dexter’s lead to five points. Karsen Long followed that with another 3, and after just 1:16, the Bearcats’ lead was whittled down to two points as Allen called a timeout to regroup his squad.
The Indians went cold shooting after that, failing to score for the next two minutes, but Dexter also failed to put up any additional points in that timespan. After a blocked Dexter shot, Burchard took the ball downcourt for the tying layup.
Temples answered with his own 3-pointer, giving the Bearcats the lead back with 2:30 left to play.
After trading layups, Parsley hit another triple to tie the game at 50 with less than two minutes remaining.
After Dexter was called for a charge, Karsen Long connected on a layup to give Puxico a 52-50 lead with less than one minute left. The Indians regained the ball on a turnover with 30 seconds remaining and tried to run out the clock to secure the win.
Dexter had to foul with time running out, but Burchard only hit one of two free throws, and with the clock racing down to zero, the Bearcats found Temples for a game-tying triple to send the game into overtime tied at 53.
Puxico had better discipline with its ball control in overtime, outscoring the Bearcats 11-7, mostly with free throws, enabling the team and their fans to celebrate the tournament championship.
THIRD PLACE: Bernie 67, East Prairie 66
The Bernie Mules defeated the East Prairie Eagles in an overtime thriller to win third place at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Monday night.
It was an up-and-down game for both teams, who spent four quarters and overtime trading layups and 3-pointers, steals and rebounds. Neither team able to pull away, with the final score coming down to a one-point advantage as the result of a single free throw, which proved to be the decisive point for the Mules
The fourth-seeded Mules and the second-seeded Eagles traded baskets for most of the first quarter, with East Prairie holding the edge in turnovers to give them a 15-10 lead at the beginning of the second quarter.
Bernie played shutdown defense in the second, working themselves into a tie with 2:52 left in the half. East Prairie went into halftime with a 24-22 lead.
The Mules continued to use their defense in the third quarter to frustrate the Eagles, who had difficulty working the ball inside to their big seniors, Noah Johnson and Tripp Shoemaker.
East Prairie built a couple of five-point leads, but Mules’ shooters hit timely treys and led 43-40 at the end of the third.
Bernie maintained its lead throughout most of the fourth quarter, but East Prairie’s Ty Wallace hit a 3 to tie the game at 55 with 1:05 remaining to play. Johnson took a pass after a steal for the Eagles and made a slam dunk for a two-point lead, but Bernie’s Blaine Morgan tied it again on a layup with 21 seconds left.
East Prairie had the last possession, but Connor Marcum’s layup attempt with time expiring sailed wide, and the expiring clock sent both teams into overtime, where Bernie outscored the Eagles 10-9 to claim the victory.
Bernie’s leading scorer was Jon Aycock with 17 points.
Leading East Prairie in scoring was Johnson with a game-high 26 points.
FIFTH PLACE: Risco 77, Richland 67
The Risco Tigers came from behind at halftime to defeat the Richland Rebels in the fifth-place contest on Monday night.
The game was hard fought, tense, and exciting throughout, with each team playing both ends of the court with an intensity that seemed more like a first-place match rather than the fifth spot in the tournament.
Richland (7-4) built an early lead in the first quarter, ending the period with a 22-16 advantage. Risco (10-2) fought back to take a two-point lead late in the second, but a last-second 3-point shot from Richland’s Hunter Sanders gave the Rebels a 37-36 halftime edge.
Risco took the lead back in the third quarter, combining effective shooting with pressure defense to end the period up 56-53.
The Tigers stifled the Rebels’ comeback attempts by forcing turnovers on defense and converting them into easy layups, pulling away in the last two minutes for the double-digit win.
Risco’s leading scorers were Owen Fortner with a game-high 28 points, while Tiger teammate Sammy Smith scored 19.
Richland’s scoring leaders were Sanders and Gary Tilley with 21 points apiece.
CONSOLATION: Twin Rivers 61, Bloomfield 40
The Twin Rivers Royals defeated the host team Bloomfield Wildcats to claim the consolation trophy at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Monday night.
The Royals improved to 9-4 with a convincing victory in which they lead from start to finish, using a series of 3-pointers to build a 29-14 lead at halftime.
Bloomfield (7-4) was unable to cut into Twin Rivers’ lead in the second half, trailing 50-25 at the end of the third quarter.
Twin Rivers’ leading scorer was Will Parker, who put in a game-high 17 points. Teammate Eli Hequembourg also scored 11 points.
Bloomfield was led by Lane Grigery with 13 points and Caleb Upchurch with 10.