SCAA: Defense carrying Puxico to historic point with latest rout

Puxico High School defenders (from left) Jett Hancock, Kasyn Long, and Jerrett Powell engulf Dexter High School junior forward Devin Turnbo on a drive on Thursday in the championship semifinal round of the Stoddard County Athletic Association Varsity Boy's Basketball Tournament at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter.

DEXTER – A year ago, the Puxico High School varsity boy’s basketball squad had a lot of success, as it won 23 games and advanced to the MSHSAA Class 2 Quarterfinals. However, the Indians didn’t win either the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament or the Stoddard County Athletic Association Tournament.

Fourth-year Puxico coach Bryant Fernetti said on Thursday that his players are fully aware of that.

“There are not very many opportunities in life that you will get twice,” Fernetti said. “We feel like we let opportunities (last year) slip away.”

A month ago, the Indians (16-1) rectified the Bloomfield “opportunity” by beating Dexter in overtime in the championship game of that event, and today, Puxico will have another “opportunity” to mark off the SCAA chance.

For the third time in a month, Puxico got past the Bearcats, the latter two wins came with stifling defense, as it beat Dexter 61-46 in the championship semifinal round of the tournament at the Bearcat Event Center.

“I thought that we did a good job of putting ball pressure on them and making it difficult on them,” Fernetti said following the win. “The first time we played them, (Dexter) was running their offense at the 3-point line. I felt like in the last couple of times that we played them we have been able to make them run their offense further away from the basket.”

Nine days ago, Puxico was trailing the Bearcats on this floor in the final quarter before closing the game on a 16-3 run to comfortably prevail. On Thursday, Fernetti’s team didn’t allow the contest to reach that point.

Puxico held the Bearcats to just 12 made shots for the game, and limited Bearcat junior forward Devin Turnbo, who can be a nightmare to defend, to only seven points.

“We did a better job helping on Turnbo,” Fernetti explained. “There is probably some familiarity when you play somebody three times in a month.

“We did a better job of defending without fouling in the second half.”

The Indians, who are ranked No. 3 in Class 2 and are the top seed in this tournament, held a 31-25 lead at halftime before dominating Class 4 Dexter (8-10) in the third period.

Puxico only allowed the hosts to score five total points in that quarter, as it stretched its advantage to 44-30 early in the final period.

“We had two or three starters on the bench (with fouls) in the first half,” Fernetti said. “Our bench did a good job of keeping it afloat.”

That “bench” consisted of senior Jerrett Powell, junior Karsen Long, who has been battling an illness of late, and junior post Mikey Dry.

The Bearcats held Puxico junior guard Landan Burchard to just one point in the recent loss, but the 5-foot-9 athlete scored a team-leading 22 points on Thursday.

Burchard not only led his team offensively, but he keys the Indians’ full-court pressure defense at the point of attack.

Puxico junior guard Jett Hancock added 18 points, including eight in the final quarter while senior center Scyler Zimmerman had 12 points.

The Indian defense shut down Bearcat senior shooter Tucker Temples, who scored just two points, and none in the final 24 minutes of play.

Dexter was paced by junior guard John Sepulvado with 14 points while junior guard Carter Stone chipped in 11 points.

Bearcat sophomore center Elijah Ibrahim tallied nine points.

Puxico will battle No. 2 seed Woodland (16-1) today at 8:30 p.m. in the championship game.

The Cardinals are ranked No. 6 in Class 3 and beat Bernie 90-67 in the other championship semifinal game on Thursday.

Woodland hasn’t played for the SCAA Tournament championship since 2016 when it fell 73-58 to Bloomfield.

Puxico lost to Richland (Essex) 72-65 in last season’s title game and last won the event in 1984.