Holcomb defense halts Bloomfield boys in fourth quarter 55-49

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - The Holcomb Hornets varsity boys basketball team outlasted the Bloomfield Wildcats 55-49 Thursday night in a closely contested affair that featured six lead changes after halftime.

The Hornets entered halftime with a 30-23 advantage after outscoring the Wildcats 11-4 in the first period. Bloomfield scored the first eight points of the second half and outscored Holcomb by 14 points in the third quarter to move ahead 45-38 by the start of the fourth quarter. Holcomb held Bloomfield scoreless in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter allowing it to move ahead for good.

"I told them 'they were going to come out punching and they did,'" Holcomb coach Nathan Walk said of the second half. "They went to a matchup zone. That's the first time we had seen it all year and it kind of threw us out of whack a little bit. We countered it when we got a good high-low post offense going. Then we went to our full-court man which I had been saving until the second half so we would have enough gas to use it and we were able to force a few key turnovers with it."

Holcomb's largest lead was 13-4 with 7:33 remaining in the first half. Bloomfield's largest advantage was seven twice in the third period.

The Hornets opened the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run to take a 48-45 lead with 3:37 remaining.

"We have trouble finding our consistency on defense, but it seems like we buckle down when we need too," Walk said.

Bloomfield scored its first fourth-quarter points when Noah Vandiver hit back-to-back free throws with 2:46 remaining to cut the deficit to 48-47. Bub Davis followed with a 2-pointer to increase Holcomb's lead to 50-47 with 2:27 left.

A 2-pointer by Vandiver cut the deficit to 50-49 with 59 seconds left.

The Wildcats never scored after. Holcomb milked the clock to 33 seconds with a one-point lead before Cameron Clark was fouled. Clark hit five of six free throws in the final 33 seconds to set the final score.

"We gave ourselves a good chance with a really good third quarter, and just had a terrible fourth quarter," Bloomfield coach Jason Karnes said. "We are in a stretch here where we play four out of the next five days. So we really have to make sure we put this one behind us [Friday] as we turn our focus to Bell City."

Vandiver tallied a game-high 30 points for Bloomfield.

The Wildcats had two players foul out in the final five minutes of regulation. Six-foot forward Triston Mitchell fouled out with 4:42 remaining and six-foot-one guard Alex Gibbs fouled out with 33 seconds left.

Holcomb had five players score at least seven points.

Clark led the way with 13 points.

Ryan Reeves tallied 12 points, Preston Sikes scored all 11 of his points in the second half, Davis recorded eight points and Ben Vance tallied all seven of his points in the second quarter.

"That's what it takes for us to be successful," Walk said. "If we've got one or two guys getting all the points most nights we are beat. All of the games we've won we have had between three and five guys all in double figures. A lot of teams try to key on [Ryan] and if we can score with other players it helps our cause."

Holcomb returns to action Tuesday when it visits Gideon.

Bloomfield (5-13) is scheduled to play at Bell City Friday.

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com Bloomfield's Nathan Newell takes a jumper near the Holcomb bench Thursday.

Holcomb 55, Bloomfield 49

HHS 11 19 8 17 - 55

BHS 4 19 22 4 - 49

HOLCOMB (55) - Skyler Johnson 4, Cameron Clark 13, Preston Sikes 11, Ryan Reeves 12, Bub Davis 8, Ben Vance 7. FG 19, FT 15/22, F 21. (3-pointers: Johnson 1, Vance 1. Fouled out: none)

BLOOMFIELD (49) - Caleb Pulley 4, Tim Fox 3, Tyler Battles 4, Jacob Clary 1, Noah Vandiver 30, Triston Mitchell 4, Alex Gibbs 3. FG 15, FT 18/31, F 20. (3-pointers: Fox 1. Fouled out: Gibbs, Mitchell)