Upsets and blowouts on Day 1 of BCT

Jerry Jarrell photos The action was fast and furious as the 52nd Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament got underway Friday. The field of 16 teams was cut in half after the first round as upsets and blowouts were the order of the day. Bloomfield coach Dustin Hicks (above) was put to the test as his Wildcats battled and pulled out a win over South Pemiscot. Puxico's Cody Russom (top photo) elevates to block a shot during the Indians' upset of No. 4 Hayti, while Dexter's Luciano Starling (left) drives the lane to get off a shot in a 75-29 Bearcats' win against East Prairie, and Richland's Mac Thornton (No. 32, far left) pulls down a rebound in the Rebels' 62-40 win over Doniphan. [Click to enlarge]

Daily Statesman Sports Editor

BLOOMFIELD -- Upsets and blowouts were the order of the day -- with one exception -- as the 52nd Annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament tipped-off Friday.

Top seed Bernie, No. 2 Portageville, No. 5 Dexter and No. 6 Twin Rivers all advanced to the second round with lopsided wins, but No. 3 Kennett, No. 4 Hayti, and No. 7 Doniphan were not so lucky as their dreams of a tournament title fell by the way-side.

Only the night cap between host Bloomfield (No. 8) and South Pemiscot (No. 9) commanded a fan's full attention as the two closest seeded teams left it all on the court for four quarters before the Wildcats finally could breathe a sigh of relief with a 78-71 win.

Due to deadline restrictions, the results of Saturday's second round were not available to the Daily Statesman. Look for those results and Monday's semifinals in Tuesday's sports section.

Friday's Games

Van Buren pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament when the No. 14 Bulldogs downed No. 3 Kennett, 55-47.

Kennett's Jarvis Finley scored a game-high 21 points, but couldn't get much help as the Bulldogs erased a 27-24 half-time deficit with a 16-6 fourth quarter advantage to take the win.

Puxico's surprise win over No. 4 Hayti was nearly as impressive as Van Buren's. Puxico trailed at the half, 35-32, and the Indians were still looking at a 3-point deficit heading into the final eight minutes of play before Cody Russom and John Smith caught fire.

Russom scored 11 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter and Smith knocked down eight of his 24 in the final period as Puxico tattooed Hayti, 25-11, to claim the upset win.

Richland's 62-40 upset of No. 7 Doniphan could also classify as a blowout as the Rebels controlled the game from the opening tip and forced the Dons to play catch-up.

The Rebels got 19 points from sophomore Ryan Kleffer and 18 from junior Drew Thornton to help nail down the win. Junior Mac Thornton also stepped up big down the stretch, controlling the tempo of the game from his guard position while scoring eight of his 11 points over the final eight minutes of play.

Bloomfield led South Pemiscot 34-30 at the half, and the Wildcats responded on their home court with a dominating 22-13 advantage in the third to take a comfortable, 56-43, advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

But South Pemiscot wasn't about to give in as the Mustangs battle to cut the advantage on one point to seven points, but Bloomfield used 10-of-16 shooting from the foul line in the fourth to hold off the charge. Bloomfield held an 11-point edge over South Pemiscot at the foul line where the Wildcats were 20-of-31 while the Mustang were only awarded 12 tries from the charity strip, connecting on nine.

Jordan Carter led the Mustang's fourth-quarter push scoring 16 of his 22 points in the frame. Tyler Thompson added 20 for the Mustangs, while Bloomfield was led in scoring by Leighton Hensley with 23, followed by Blake Harris with 15, Derrick Caldwell with 12 and Corey Smith with 10.

The other four games saw the higher seeds dominated their opponents.

Bernie hit 100 points against No. 16 East Carter, while Portageville downed No. 15 Greenville, 59-26.

East Prairie was without its starting point guard M. C. Williams, and the Bearcats exploited the Eagles weaken backcourt with a relentless press that that forced 13 first quarter turnovers as Dexter bolted to a quick 1 8-2 lead and rolled in an easy 46-point win.

Dexter forced 24 first-half turnovers and limited the Eagles to just 1-of-3 shooting in the second period, 4-of-15 for the half. Dexter's offense was feeding off the turnovers, scoring numerous uncontested lay-up as the Bearcats took a 47-15 lead into the locker room.

The win was the second straight for the Bearcats after starting he season 0-5. For the second straight game Dexter connected early and often from long range to build quick leads, something the ''Cats were unable to do early in the season. For the game Dexter knocked down seven 3-pointers, five by junior Jon Bowman who connected three times from behind the arc in the first quarter and finished with 15 points.

Senior Drew Kelley led the way offensively with 16 points, including eight in the opening period as the Bearcats were taking command of the game.

Dexter coach Rob Nichols was able to empty his bench, which included several players off the JV squad. All totaled, 11 Bearcats scored, with senior Nick Murphy (11) and Luciano Starling (10) the only other to score in double figures.

Last season the Bearcats were eliminated from the Christmas tournament in two games, after being upset in the first round by Puxico and then Van Buren.

Twin Rivers looked strong as a No. 6 seed with a dominating 72-26 win over No. 11 Malden.

In Saturday's games on the championship side of the bracket, the schedule had No. 1 Bernie vs. No. 8 Bloomfield, No. 5 Dexter vs. No. 13 Puxico, No. 6 Win Rivers vs. No. 14 Van Buren and No. 2 Portageville vs. No. 7 Richland.