Bloomfield moves into finals

But the Bloomfield Wildcats defense had something so say about that.

The Wildcats caused the Doniphan Dons to commit a few too many turnovers in the first half of a 68-55 win for top-seeded Bloomfield.

The Wildcats will be looking for their first district title since 1967 when they tipoff with Arcadia Valley at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night.

Bloomfield coach Dustin Hicks wanted to make sure his defense was ready on its home floor after playing four straight road games and a first-round bye.

"That's something we've been (working on)," Hicks said. "We've been in a little slump here since we've been on the road the last few games."

Not only did Wildcats force quite a few turnovers, the Dons (12-14) also had too many that were unforced.

Doniphan, which had its first round game Saturday postponed due to snow, was coming off a grueling, yet satisfying overtime victory against Clearwater on Monday night.

Yet on Tuesday, the Wildcats' stout defense combined with a touch of fatigue for the Dons caused trouble as the Dons made erratic passes and even sometimes struggled with ball-handling.

"I bet they were a little bit fatigued " Hicks said. "Plus, they played that overtime game on back-to-back nights. Coach (Jason) Andrews does a heckuva job. They did look a little fatigued and again that's why we wanted to go up and down (the court)."

Doniphan never led after matching Bloomfield point-for-point in the first couple minutes. But Dons coach Jason Andrews still felt his defense was up for a district title game berth.

"We got the stops on defense but we just couldn't convert," Andrews said. "I think a little bit of it had to due with our legs tonight with the long, tough game last night. We can't make excuses though. We lost to a good team, Bloomfield is a good team we give them a lot of credit."

The Wildcats made the Dons pay for their mistakes as they outscored them 17-9 in the first quarter.

Bloomfield's Blake Harris scored five points in the first while Garrett Rice added four.

The Dons cut the Bloomfield lead to four early in the second quarter on Mitch Granier's bucket made it 17-13.

The teams exchanged field goals for most of the quarter until late when the Dons were able to pull within three going into halftime. Granier hit a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left to make it 27-24.

Bloomfield's Jacob McNeil then hit on a 2-pointer with 40 seconds to go and then Granier sunk two free throws with 6.9 seconds left in the half to trail 29-26 at halftime.

Doniphan then cut the deficit to one point with 4:11 to play in the third quarter as Granier hit another 2-pointer to make it 32-31.

McNeil responded with a 3-pointer from the left side to go back up by four. A few moments later, Gavin Wilfong hit a layup for the Dons to make it a two-point game.

The Wildcats (17-9) then went on a 7-0 run to extend its lead and were up 44-37 going into the fourth quarter.

That's when McNeil and Corey Smith took over for the Wildcats

McNeil and Smith each scored eight points apiece in the fourth to help lead their team to clinching a spot in the title game.

"Those two are hardworking guys," Hicks said of McNeil and Smith. "They're not flashy players but they do a whole lot of things quietly. Just the way they approach the game they are just workman-like."

The Wildcats outscored the Dons, 24-18, in the fourth quarter.

The Dons scrapped to within six points with 1:12 left in the game but they just couldn't get back to square one against the Wildcats.

Doniphan junior Greg Davis scored eight points in the fourth quarter while Granier added six.

Granier ended the night with a game-high 20 points in his final high school game.

"He just fought," Andrews said of Granier. "Especially in this tournament, he really battled. I really appreciate that kid and I hope that he will do well (in the future)."

The Wildcats were led by McNeil's 17 points. Blake Harris added 16, and Leighton Hensley and Smith added 12 points apiece.

The Wildcats will be focused coming into Thursday night's district final against Arcadia Valley, Hicks said.

"We went through this process during the conference championship," Hicks said. "They'll be familiar with the process and we're gonna watch (the other semifinal game) and watch some film and will just come out (Thursday) and let it all hang out."