SCAA: Puxico stuns Woodland (and everyone else) with beatdown in title game

Puxico High School junior guard Jett Hancock starts a fast break after grabbing a rebound against Woodland on Friday in the championship final of the Stoddard County Athletic Association Varsity Boy's Basketball Tournament at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

DEXTER – The Bearcat Event Center was nearly full Friday with fans anticipating the championship final of the Stoddard County Athletic Association Varsity Boy’s Basketball Tournament between area hoop powers Puxico and Woodland.

Of the couple of thousand fans in attendance, however, not a single one could have foreseen how the game would unfold.

The Indians absolutely throttled the Cardinals at both ends of the floor, from the opening tip to the final buzzer winning (not a typo) 76-42.

“We talked about if (Woodland) scored,” fourth-year Puxico coach Bryant Fernetti said of his team’s strategy, “we did not want to run it back at them. That fits their style.”

As it turned out, Puxico (17-1) didn’t have to worry about that strategy very often.

The Indians stifled the Cardinal offense and held the Class 3 No. 6-ranked team to almost half its normal output (78-plus points per game).

“If we got a turnover or a rebound,” Fernetti continued, “then we wanted to push it.”

Those things DID occur with some degree of frequency, which enabled the Indians to speed up their offense – at times. However, the truth of the matter is, whether Puxico ran a half-court set or scored in transition, Fernetti’s team didn’t miss often and dominated this game.

When Fernetti subbed out his starters with two-plus minutes remaining, the Indians had hit 25 of their 52 shots, including (again, not a typo) an astounding 11 of 21 3-point shots.

“There were times that we didn’t,” Fernetti said of his team’s offensive execution, “but overall, I felt like we ran our (offensive) stuff pretty good.”

That may be the understatement of the season.

Puxico, which won its first SCAA Tournament since 1984, took a 21-8 lead in the first quarter on a Woodland team that scored 90 points on an 11-win Bernie team just 24 hours earlier.

The Indians hit a trio of 3-pointers in the opening quarter but didn’t need to do that in the second period, as it took a 40-19 lead into halftime.

Puxico hit six free throws and just one 3-pointer in the second quarter.

There would be no halftime adjustments on the part of Woodland (16-2), which was playing for the SCAA title for the first time since 2016.

Puxico buried four more 3's in the third quarter and three more in the final period, which was mostly played (stunningly) under a running clock.

“A lot of our offense,” Fernetti said, “our defense led to it.”

That is the area in which this year’s Puxico team has elevated itself from a 23-win team a year ago.

Puxico allowed nearly 54 points per game last year and has lowered that number to 44 points per game this season.

“We wanted to keep guarding and playing defense,” Fernetti said of his halftime message. “Hopefully, that is what is going to get us to our goal, which is to make the (MSHSAA Class 2) Final Four.

“Our defense this year is a lot better than it was last year.”

Puxico was a South Pemiscot jump shot away from advancing to the State Finals last season and just sent a message to the rest of the Class 2 teams in Missouri with this blowout win.

Puxico’s only loss is a last-minute defeat to Thayer (14-3), which is a perennial state power and currently is ranked No. 3 in Class 3.

Woodland’s lone loss this year prior to Friday was a 15-point defeat by Class 5 Cape Central, which has won 11 games this winter.

The Indians were led by senior guard Mason Parsley, who hit five 3-pointers and 7 of 8 free throws en route to 28 points.

Indian senior forward Kasyn Long hit three 3-pointers and finished with 17 points while junior guard Landan Burchard added 16 points.

Woodland got 14 points from Kamren McCormick while junior guard Korbin Kinder chipped in nine points.

Woodland will visit Advance (4-12) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Puxico will host Richland (Essex) (11-6) on Monday at 7:15 p.m.

The Rebels are ranked No. 8 in Class 1 and won the consolation final of the SCAA Tournament by beating Bell City.