The action was fast and furious and lasted until the final seconds ticked off the clock in the eighth and final game of opening day at the 51st Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament Wednesday. Bloomfield's Kyle Williamson (top photo) gives an all-out effort to try and gain control of a loose ball by reaching through the legs of a Van Buren player in the Wildcats' 67-57 win over the Bulldogs.

BLOOMFIELD -- Dexter was the highest seeded team to bow out, but the Bearcats weren't the only upset victim during Thursday's opening day action at the 51st Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

Puxico made Dexter the first upset casualty of the tournament when the No. 12 Indians ambushed the No. 5 Bearcats, 73-64. Number 6 Twin Rivers and No. 8 Richland would later join the 'Cats as higher seeds to take a tumble.

In other opening-day action, No. 1 Hayti thumped No. 16 East Carter, 85-45, No. 2 Bernie routed No. 15 Greenville, 90-50, No. 3 Doniphan crushed No. 14 East Prairie, 69-35, No. 4 Bloomfield staved off No. 13 Van Buren, 67-57, No. 5 Dexter was upset by No. 12 Puxico, 73-64, No. 11 South Pemiscot followed suit with an upset of No. 6 Twin Rivers, 64-62, defending champion Malden, seeded No. 7, defeated No. 10 Kennett, 66-60, and No. 9 Portageville defeated No. 8 Richland in the finale, 53-50.

Richland's Landon Miller tries to beat Portageville's Jacob Estes to a loose ball during the day's last game. Portageville defeated Richland, 53-50.

Dexter coach Rob Nichols was leery of Puxico coming into the game, commenting that he felt the Indians were a better team than their No. 12 seed might represent.

A 9-0 run early in the second quarter pushed the 'Cats out front 28-19, but Nichols said he felt uncomfortable about his team emotional state.

"I think the turning point in the game might have been when we were up 28-19, and they called a time out and we come to the huddle with really no emotion about the run we just made," Nichols said. "Once you've put a good together, you've got to feed off that. I don't think we're doing that right now."

Dexter managed to hang on for a 34-31 lead at the half, but Puxico knocked down five 3-pointers in a 23-point third quarter to wrestle the lead away, 54-48.

Dexter tied the game at 62-all on a 3-pointer by Kevin Hart around the four minute mark, but Puxico (6-3) rebounded to finish the game on a 11-2 run to take the win.

"We're just struggling for consistency within a game," Nichols added. "We play a good five minutes, then a not so good two or three minutes."

The two teams combined for 19 3-pointers, 10 by Puxico and nine by Dexter.

John Smith dropped in a game-high 24 points, while Matt Allison chipped in with 20. J. Hon netted all 15 of his points from behind the arc with five treys.

Junior Drew Kelley knocked down five of Dexter's nine 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 19 points while senior Kevin Hart added 12.

Dexter was scheduled to play Van Buren at 9:30 this morning in a consolation game, while Puxico will take on No. 4 Bloomfield this afternoon at 5:30.

No. 4 Bloomfield 67, No. 13 Van Buren 57

Bloomfield survived a scare against Van Buren as the Wildcats rallied from three points down at the beginning of the fourth quarter to pull away for a 10-point win.

Corey Smith scored 16 points to pace four Wildcats in double figures. Jacob McNeil chipped in with 14, followed by Blake Harris with 13 and Kyle Williamson with 12.

Van Buren's Jack Heiberg dropped in a game-high 20 points, but it wasn't enough for the 13th seeded Bulldogs to pull off the upset of host Bloomfield.

Bloomfield will now play SCAA Conference rival Puxico today at 5:30 p.m. in one quarterfinal matchup. Van Buren was scheduled to take on Dexter in a consolation bracket game at 9:30 a. m., the first game on the schedule for the second day.

No. 9 Portageville 53, No. 8 Richland 50

Portageville's Jacob Estes grabbed an offensive rebound with 27 seconds remaining in regulation and was fouled while making the shot. The 6'1" senior drained the free throw and the old fashion 3-point play broke a 48-all tie and provided the margin for victory for coach Jim Bidewell's Bulldogs.

Richland's Drew Thornton, who scored 21 points, converted both ends of a 1-and-1 with 11 seconds remaining (51-50), but the Rebels were forced to foul with time running out and Dometric Trotter drained both to ice the game.

Richland had beaten Portageville earlier in the season.

"We knew it was going to be hard coming in here to beat Portageville twice," Richland head coach Casey Knight said. "We beat them earlier this season, but we came out and didn't take care of the ball well (tonight). This may be a good eye-opener for us, losing to a really talented team."

The Bulldogs will get a shot at the tournament's No. 1 Hayti Indians today at 4 p. m., while the Rebels will play East Carter in a consolation bracket game at 2 o'clock.

No. 11 South Pemiscot 64, No. 6 Twin Rivers 62

South Pemiscot's interior defense got a hand on the ball as Matt Boyle drove the lane for a shot to tie the game with only second remaining and the Bulldogs held on for the, 64-62, upset of No. 6 Twin Rivers.

Twin Rivers trailed by 11 points (49-38) entering the final eight minutes of play, but came up just short after outscoring the Bulldogs 24-15 down the stretch.

Dylan Stockton knocked down three 3-pointers and finished with 18 points to lead the Royals.

Number 11 South Pemiscot will now take on No. 3 Doniphan tonight at 7 p. m., while Twin Rivers will drop to the consolation bracket where they will play No. 14 East Prairie in an 11 a. m. contest.

No. 7 Malden 66, No. 10 Kennett 60

Chad Hudson hit two free throw with 13 seconds remaining in regulation to give Malden a 64-60 lead and Andy Matthews' lay-up at the buzzer after an ensuing Indians miss provided the final score as the tournament's defending champion Green Wave held off a stubborn Kennett team, 66-60.

Leonard Burton led a trio of Green Wave players in double figures with 18, followed by Nick Perkins with 13 and Andy Matthews with 12.

Kennett's Jarvis Finley helped keep the Indians in the game with 22 points, but it wasn't enough to overcome the high seeded Green Wave.

Kennett will play Greenville today at 12:30 in a consolation bracket game, while Malden will take on No. 2 Bernie in the day-two finale at 8:30.