BERNIE, Mo. -- The Hayti Indians boys basketball team ran into a buzzsaw when it visited the state-ranked Bernie Mules Tuesday night.
Bernie outscored Hayti in every quarter on its way to a convincing 71-43 win.
"I'm real proud of our team tonight," Bernie coach Brad Botsch said. "Hayti is coming off the Bootheel Conference Championship and we really stepped up and played well. We've faced some adversity lately, and our kids really bought in and stepped up."
Bernie finished the game 31 of 37 from the free throw line and Hayti shot nine of 12 from the charity stripe.
Hayti and Bernie both compete in the same Class 2 district this season. Bernie has won its Class 2 district the past three seasons and Hayti has won its Class 2 district two of the last four seasons.
Bernie improves its record to 14-7 with the win and Hayti is 13-8.
"I think we showed more poise and confidence than we have all year," Botsch said. "We took care of the ball and didn't play timid. When players believe in their abilities and each other good things generally happen and they believed tonight. However, it will be important for us to keep this win in perspective and understand that it's just one game. We must continue working hard as we have all year and build off of this. I'm really happy for our kids. They work hard and persevered tonight. We hope to keep it going."
Hayti hosts state-ranked Risco Friday and Bernie travels to Malden.
It looked like the Central boys basketball team could be headed toward another dramatic finish Tuesday night after losing games on back-to-back nights by a combined three points last week.
The Tigers led rival Jackson (13-10) by just two points entering the fourth quarter, but they scored the first five points of the period and never faltered on their way to a 60-51 win at the Show Me Center.
"I keep telling them, last week, it happened for a reason," Central coach Drew Church said. "For one reason or another, I have a belief that that happened to us for a reason, whether it was to make us tougher or whether we were to learn from it or just about you can't give up every possession. Whatever. That happened to us for a reason, so hopefully down the line we're in those close games now we understand it's 32 minutes. Not 31 or 30, but 32 minutes."
Central (16-6) made 12 of 16 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter Tuesday.
"We executed in the fourth quarter," Church said. "We took good shots. We were able to get the ball to the right people to take free throws, and that's good. We need to be able to close out games like that."
Central senior Vance Toole was the right person Tuesday night. He finished tied for the team lead with 16 points, and he was 8 of 8 from the free-throw line in the fourth.
"If you can get rhythm going, they'll start to go in, but I haven't really shot many free throws this year," said Toole, who Church called the team's best free-throw shooter. "I don't even know how many I shot that game, but that was probably close to how many I've shot all year."
RISCO -- The Risco Tigers improved to 17-2 with a 67-31 win over Senath-Hornersville on Tuesday.
Risco had two starters play limited minutes with Chris Pavy battling illness and Austin White still nursing an ankle injury, but the Tigers were still able to dominate the visiting Lions, grabbing a 46-21 lead at halftime.
"Our defense wasn't bad," said Risco coach Brandon Blankenship. "We struggled offensively but it was good to pick up another home win."
Luke Bixler led Risco with 24 points while Jordon Pavy added 13 and Chris Pavy 10.
Risco celebrated Coaches v. Cancer as officials used pink whistles and coaches wore sneakers. Also the Risco players wore orange shoelaces signifying the fight against leukemia. Risco's all-time leading scorer Daniel Pressley was recently diagnosed with the disease and was recognized.
Risco won the junior varsity game 54-36, improving to 10-4 on the season. Brandon Bixler and Josh Earnheart finished with 18 and 17 points respectively.
ZALMA -- The Chaffee Red Devils used a strong first half to build a big lead against Zalma and held on for a 62-55 road win on Tuesday.
Chaffee led 34-15 at the half after doubling up Zalma 14-7 in the first quarter.
Alex Crowe led Chaffee with 15 points while Zach Dannenmueller added 13. Layton Tenkhoff and Jordan Yahn each scored 11.
Poplar Bluff 52,
Scott City 39
The Scott City boys basketball team trailed by a point heading into the fourth quarter Tuesday, but turnovers plagued the Rams late in a 53-39 loss to Poplar Bluff.
The host Mules opened the fourth with a 9-2 run thanks to four Scott City turnovers. Poplar Bluff extended its lead to 10 with 3 minutes, 19 seconds left, and the Rams never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
Zach Cotner scored 15 points to go with seven rebounds to lead Scott City (15-7), while Johnathon McFall added eight points.
Poplar Bluff (7-13) was led by Kendric McCain's 15 points, while Brandon Stuckenschneider scored six of his 10 in the fourth.
The teams traded points for much of the first half with Scott City leading 10-8 after one quarter before the Mules put together a 12-2 run. Poplar Bluff forced six turnovers during the swing and led 20-12 on McCain's runner at the 2:46 mark.
Ryan Fortner ended Scott City's scoring drought after just more than three minutes with a 3-pointer, and a pair of free throws by Cotner pulled the Rams within 22-17 at halftime.
Cotner's baseline drive and free throw for a three-point play at the 1:52 mark of the third quarter put Scott City up 29-28. But freshman Chris Stocks answered to give the Mules the one-point lead heading into the fourth.
ORAN -- The Oran Eagles got 30 points from Seth Ressel, including a 14 of 14 performance from the free throw line to slip past Bloomfield 72-67.
With the win Oran has won 8 of their last 10 and improves to 13-7 on the season.
Portageville 69,
East Prairie 48
EAST PRAIRIE -- The Portageville Bulldogs started slow but finished strong in a 69-48 road win over East Prairie on Tuesday night.
With the game tied at 18-18 midway through the second quarter, the Bulldogs finished the half on a 13-6 run and taking a 31-24 lead at halftime.
Portageville's man-to-man defense began forcing more turnovers in the second half as the Eagles fell behind 46-33 after three quarters and could never get back within single digits.
Dion Foster led Portageville with 18 points while Dominique Walker added 14.
Shawn King, Nathan Maynard and Devin Cook all contributed nine points to lead East Prairie (1-17).
The Indians held Central to two points in the second quarter in a 54-35 win
Dru Haertling drove to the basket and flipped in a shot just before the buzzer to end the first quarter Tuesday.
That shot gave Jackson a lead after the opening period and ignited the Indians.
Jackson's defense suffocated Central in the second quarter, which launched the Indians past the Tigers 54-35 at the Show Me Center.
"She hit that layup, kind of knocked the wind out of our sails," Central coach Sherri Shirrell said. "We threw the ball away a couple times. Things we talk about -- take care of the ball."
The Tigers (13-8) only managed two points in the second period. They came on a pair of free throws by Alayah Cooper-Johnson with 3 minutes, 28 seconds left before halftime.
"We went to a little bit of a zone, which could have thrown them off because they probably haven't seen us play it much," Jackson coach Tyler Abernathy said. "I thought we played it really well. I thought we were really active up top. We rebounded the ball well. I thought there in the first quarter, they got quite a few offensive rebounds. We kind of shored that up in the second quarter, and that kind of hurt them."
The Tigers went 0 of 8 from the field and turned over the ball eight times in the second quarter. Central went a span of 10 minutes, 30 seconds between field goals.
"We just knew we had to get our energy up a little bit more and start helping a little bit more," Jackson junior Danielle Daume said about the improved defense.
The teams traded the lead three times in the first quarter, but Jackson (14-7) snatched the advantage when Haertling scored the last four points of the quarter. That was the beginning of a 15-0 run by the Indians.
Jackson attacked inside and outside. Connor King scored 14 points inside, while the Indians connected on seven 3-pointers, including four from Daume.
"They were really trying to take Connor away inside, so that was opening it up outside," Daume said. "We had good ball movement."
King had two stretches where she scored in bunches. The first came in the second quarter when she scored eight points during a 3 1/2 minute span. The second spurt came late in the third quarter when she converted back-to-back buckets.
"I think it had a lot to do with Cape," Abernathy said. "There were a couple times where they had two or three girls in there around her, which allowed us to get some of those open shots. Then we hit a few and then she'd get a little more room. Then, you know, she'd score a little bit and then it was kind of vice versa. They'd go back to being in there and we'd hit a few more. I thought she did a good job of taking what the defense gave her and being that presence we need."
Daume said the Indians' outside shooters must convert when the defense collapses on King. Jackson did a good job Tuesday. It went 7 of 18 (39 percent) from 3-point range.
"We have to or we get sagged in if we don't start hitting shots," Daume said.
Haertling played a big role in sparking the Indians' offense. The Tigers focused on trying to stop her from penetrating, which opened up teammates. Haertling scored 15 points, but she also dished off to open teammates, who converted easy layups.
"I kind of notice the gaps and I notice when the defense shifts," Haertling said. "I think [my teammates] can hit shots easy. It's just a matter of me making a good pass or not. They're good shooters."
Haertling's passing to open teammates contributed to the Indians shooting 45 percent from the field over the first three quarters.
"For her to get everybody involved is almost just as important as for her to score because we know she's going to be able to get her shots," Abernathy said. "When you create shots for other people, it gets them more confidence. They get easier shots. It creates foul opportunities."
Jackson looked poised to earn a running clock in the fourth quarter when it went ahead by 29 points on King's last basket of the game with 6:27 left in the contest. But the Tigers put together a 14-0 run to make things interesting.
"We handled the ball a little bit better and of course we knocked down some shots," Shirrell said.
Apple Thomas, who finished with eight points, drained two 3-pointers during the run to help the Tigers close within 15 points with 2:12 left, but they couldn't get any closer.
"I don't think we were nervous, but we were frustrated because we were getting sloppy with the ball," Haertling said.
Haertling and Daume led the Indians with 15 points apiece, while Cooper-Johnson paced the Tigers with 14 points.
CHAFFEE -- The Charleston Lady Bluejays improved to 12-8 on the season with a 63-43 road win over Chaffee on Tuesday.
Charleston led 24-6 after one and 42-15 at halftime.
Sierra Frazier led Charleston with 20 points while E'Neikqua Ewing added 17. Dazique Gillespie and Kasuela Cooper each chipped in 11 points respectively.