HOLCOMB, Mo. - The Bernie Mules and Twin Rivers Royals are slated to meet once again in the championship of the Holcomb Invitational boys basketball tournament Friday night at 8:30 p.m.
Both teams collected come-from-behind victories Thursday night in their respective semifinals.
Top-seeded Bernie trailed fourth-seeded Puxico 33-32 at the start of the fourth period. Bernie outscored Puxico by nine points in the fourth quarter to secure a 45-37 victory.
"I was proud of our kids for finding a way to win tonight," Bernie coach Brad Botsch said in a press release Thursday night. "We still struggled shooting the ball from the perimeter, but we fought and clawed our way to a victory. We had some real gutsy performances from a wide array of players, and even though it wasn't necessarily a 'pretty' win, it's still a W and we get to move on and play in the championship. At some point we will shoot the ball better, I just hope it's sooner rather than later. They have amped up their work on shooting the past few days, and I believe we will get there eventually."
Twin Rivers trailed Bloomfield 30-22 at halftime before winning the third quarter by eight points and fourth period by nine points on its way to a 58-49 victory.
"Twin Rivers will definitely be ready," Botsch added. "They had a great second half against Bloomfield tonight. Coach Benson does an excellent job and they will be ready to compete. Hopefully, our guys will be ready to do whatever it takes and find a way to win."
Bloomfield takes on Puxico Friday at 7 p.m. in the third-place game.
"Twin Rivers' size and physical play really got to us tonight," Bloomfield coach Jason Karnes said in a press release. "We had a tough time finishing around the rim and keeping them off the boards. Foul trouble really changed the game for us, and really effected what we had to accomplish. We have just got to play a little tougher and smarter, and I have do a better job of coaching. We just have to regroup, pick up the pieces, and move on as we face another good and physical team in Puxico tomorrow night. "
View box scores from Thursday's semifinals below:
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No. 1 Bernie 45, No. 4 Puxico 37
PHS 15 8 10 4 - 37
BHS 15 10 7 13 -- 45
PUXICO (37) -- Levi Woods 7, Dalton King 6, Zack McCoy 8, Seth Luttrull 4, Jordon Burch 2, Zach Tucker 10. FG 17, FT 2/5, F 18. (3-pointers: Woods 1. Fouled out: none)
BERNIE (45) -- Matt Vernon 7, Brandon Sparks 12, Caleb Ellenburg 16, Devin Trammell 6, Gavin Smith 5. FG 16, FT 10/16, F 7. (3-pointers: Trammell 2, Vernon 1. Fouled out: none)
No. 3 Twin Rivers 58, No. 2 Bloomfield 49
TRS 17 5 19 17 - 58
BHS 17 13 11 8 - 49
TWIN RIVERS (58) -- Matt Austin 1, Jase Worley 4, Chance Wilkerson 15, Dylan Pruitt 3, Andrew Mittelstadt 13, Josh Suiter 4, Mason Douglas 5, Jacob Mitchell 13. FG 21, FT 15/30, F 20. (3-pointers: Douglas 1. Fouled out: none)
BLOOMFIELD (49) -- Caleb Pulley 2, Peyton Bell 2, Nathan Newell 4, Austin Bond 4, Tyler Battles 6, Noah Vandiver 18, Alex Gibbs 13. FG 14, FT 18/21, F 21. (3-pointers: Battles 2, Vandiver 1. Fouled out: Vandiver)