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Read comments (2)At the District 3 Tournament in Chaffee, second-seeded Puxico defeated Richland 48-36 to advance to tonight's semifinal against Meadow Heights, who upset No. 3 Advance 54-50.
In another District 3 contest, Bloomfield defeated host Chaffee to advance to tonight's semifinal against Saxony Lutheran.
Meanwhile, at the District 1 tourney in Holcomb, No. 2 Bernie routed the host team 78-43.
At Chaffee, Meadow Heights (12-11) broke a 50-50 tie with about 30 seconds left when junior point guard Derrick Wilfong made a steal and scored on a fastbreak basket layin. Wilfong, who finished with a team-high 15 points, later added two free throws.
Dustin Hubler added 11 points and Ethan Mayfield 10 finished with 10.
David Vangennip scored a game-high 24 points for Advance.
"I thought it was our best defensive effort of the year," Meadow Heights coach Tom Brown said.
Saxony will play Bloomfield in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Tuesday, which will be followed by the Meadow Heights-Puxico semifinal at 7:30.
Puxico 48, Richland 36
The second-seeded Indians took their first step in repeating as district champs with a smothering defensive performance against Richland.
"We were real disappointed in our defensive effort this past Tuesday against Richland in that we gave up 65 points," Puxico coach Josh Dowdy said. "We did an excellent job today of pressuring the ball and taking away some passing lanes. As a coach you have to be extremely proud any time your team holds the opposition to 36 points.
"If these guys continue to bend their knees and take pride in their defense, I like our chances of contending for another district crown."
Kerry McClure scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Puxico offense
"Kerry McClure's performance tonight was spectacular," said Dowdy. "We know Kerry can shoot from behind the arc but he is beginning to have a presence in the paint.
"His post play has made our team so much better and needless to say it has come at the right time."
Drew Thornton paced Richland with 11 points.
Bernie 78, Holcomb 43
At Holcomb, the Mules took their first step toward winning their first district title in 16 years with a dominating performance against the host Hornets.
Bernie (22-5) led 25-2 after the opening period and never looked back.
"I'm a little surprised at how well we played today," Bernie coach Brad Botsch said afterwards. "We came out of the gate ready to go and the kids didn't let their guard down at all. It would have been easy to do after the emotional and physical game that we played last night, but they bounced right back and were ready to go. We were pleased with how they played."
Silas Dill paced the Mules with 17 points, while Quinton Stevens and Daniel Becking each added 15 and Jake Owens chipped in 13.
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Doudy and Co. making a run. Coach of the Year anyone? Who does more with less? I think they may need to do more than just bend their knees or whatever, but the Indians are putting it together at just the right time. Take on the Lutherans later in the week. Would love to be a germ on a locker room toilet when Doudy gives his best Rock Knute speech to his limited crew before this one. K Mac playing big! The shortest guy in the county knockin' down big shots everywhere. Arnie Ryan would be proud.