Puxico rolls into Class 2 quarterfinals

BLOOMFIELD — Three postseason games, three big wins for Puxico Indians boys basketball team.

The Indians continued their roll through the postseason in the Class 2 sectional round on Monday night as they rolled to a 74-40 win over the Valley Vikings at Bloomfield High School.

“It feels great,” Puxico senior Kaysen Long said. “We were there last year and we didn't get the job done. We're looking to get the job done this year and possibly win a state championship. That's our goal is to get there and win a state championship.”

Puxico (26-3) is off to a good start on its state title quest, as the Indians have won all three of their postseason games by at least 25 points.

The Indians took a 20-12 lead after the opening period and led 27-17 midway through the second quarter when Landan Burchard and Mason Parsley drained back-to-back 3-pointers to turn a 10-point lead into a 16-point advantage.

Valley never got within single digits again.

“Those were just two big shots that gave us a bigger lead,” Burchard said. “They had good defense up until that point. So (for them) it was just devastating. It's hard to come back from that.”

Burchard scored five of Puxico's last seven points of the half to send his team to the locker room with a 43-26 lead. He had 19 of his game-high 28 points in the first half.

“He did a good job getting into the lane and all those types of things,” Puxico coach Bryant Fernetti said “So if he's getting in the lane, but then also having open 3s, you know, he's hard to guard.”

The Indians continued their onslaught after halftime, taking their first 20-point lead when Scyler Zimmerman sank a free throw with 6:09 left in the third quarter to make it 48-28, then Burchard drilled another 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds left in the third to push the lead over 30 points (67-36).

“I thought Valley came out and played pretty well — and hit some shots,” Fernetti said. “We started playing a little better defense second half for sure. But they played well. They came out ready to go, but we just did a good job of sticking with it.”

Puxico limited the Vikings to just 14 second-half points, including just four in a fourth quarter with a continuously running clock.

“We really try to focus in on our defense, because if teams don't score, then it's harder for them to beat us,” Burchard said.

The Indians will be back in action Friday in the Class 2 quarterfinals against perennial power South Iron. The Panthers earned the right to take on Puxico by rallying for a 60-57 win on Monday at Hayti.

“We got to this point last year, then we had a pretty disappointing game (against South Pemiscot),” Fernetti said. “We just want to get past that so we can get that taste out of our mouth from last year. So hopefully we can do that on Friday.”

Burchard echoed his coach's sentiments.

“It's not over yet,” Burchard said. “We want to try to win it all.”