Advance starts fast, holds off Bell City in Christmas Tournament first round

In a game in which it led from wire to wire, the Advance boys basketball team used its press to disrupt Bell City early on and got a standout performance from Armani Vermillion to win the opener of the evening session, 68-56, in the first round of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Saturday at the Show Me Center.

Vermillion scored 20 points to lead fifth-seeded Advance, while Dawson Mayo added 12 points, Brian Whitson had 11 and Austin Ladd pitched in 10 for the victors.

Cole Nichols led the 12th-seeded Cubs with 20 points, while Bobby Wright had 16, knocking down 4 3-pointers.

Ladd got to the hoop just 10 seconds into the game, and Preston Wuebker followed with back-to-back baskets to give the Hornets a 6-0 lead out of the gates.

Still, Advance coach Bubba Wheetley wasn't pleased with what he saw and said his team better figure some things out if it wants to survive any longer in the tournament. Advance will face fourth-seeded Charleston in a quarterfinal at 9 p.m. Monday.

It was the second time in eight days that Advance was held under 70 points -- and only the second time all season. But it was on the defensive end that the Hornets' head man took the most issue.

Bell City's Cole Nichols tries to keep the ball from Advance's Preston Wuebker during the first quarter in a first-round game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament Saturday, Dec. 26, 2015 at the Show Me Center. (FRED LYNCH)

"We just didn't play very well," Wheetley said. "I thought they broke our press down a lot. We didn't get out on the 3s. We didn't rebound at times. It seemed like when we got out on a run, we'd turn the ball over or do something stupid and let them right back in it. We just didn't play very well."

Vermillion got out in transition to help Advance on a 7-0 run midway through the first quarter, as the Horents stretched their lead to 17-5 before taking a 19-10 advantage into the second quarter.

Advance began the second period on an 8-2 swing as Mayo began to find his offensive game with six points in the quarter, and it allowed the eventual winners to lead by as many as 15 points.

But Bell City responded with a 10-5 run, getting a conventional three-point play from Logan Yates to cut its deficit to 10 before Nichols began to get involved, and it was an 11-point game at the half, 33-22.

But all the Cubs could do was respond to whatever Advance threw at them; they failed to make any significant dent in the deficit.

"We're a team where if we don't have our rhythm going at the beginning of the game, it's kind of hard to get the win," Bell City coach CJ Hadley said. "Advance played their game. Mayo had a good game, it was just a lack of our defense.

"We didn't get the stops when we needed them. We were trailing the whole game, and we're not a team where [we're good] when we're trailing. ... I usually say three stops, but I told them we needed four stops to get back in the game. And we didn't get the stops when we needed them."

The third quarter was the epitome of back and forth, as the sides traded buckets. Nichols hit a triple with 1:13 left in the period to maintain the 11-point difference and force an Advance timeout.

The Hornets then got a basket from Ladd before Vermillion stole the ball and got it to Whitson for the layup and the foul with 2 seconds remaining in the quarter. Whitson hit the freebie for a 53-37 lead going into the final eight minutes.

Nichols then scored six points in the fourth, and Wright hit a pair of 3s and scored eight points in the final period of play to outscore Advance 19-15 in the last frame.

But the Hornets' strong start stood up.

The Cubs will take on Oak Ridge at 9 a.m. Monday in the consolation bracket before the Hornets and Bluejays meet in the nightcap.

"We just have not put together a good, full game this year," Wheetley said. "Hopefully we'll get better. We better against Charleston, or they're going to kill us."

Bell City 10 12 15 19 -- 56

Advance 19 14 20 15 -- 68

BELL CITY (56) -- Taylor Jackson 5, Kolten Siebert 5, Logan Yates 6, Brandon Abner 2, Cole Nichols 20, Peyton Maddox 2, Bobby Wright 16. FG 20, FT 8-10, F 14. (3-pointers: Wright 4, Nichols 2, Jackson, Siebert. Fouled out: None.)

ADVANCE (68) -- Armani Vermillion 20, Brendan Crader 2, Dakota Welty 2, Preston Wuebker 8, CJ Seger 3, Brian Whitson 11, Austin Ladd 10, Dawson Mayo 12. FG 30, FT6-11, F 13. (3-pointers: Wuebker 2. Fouled out: None.)