Bears rally past Puxico, to face Advance in final

BLOOMFIELD — The top-seeded Greenville Bears used a strong fourth quarter to overcame a fourth-quarter deficit and rally past No. 4 Puxico 53-44 in the first of two Class 2 District 3 semifinals Wednesday night.

The Bears will face the second-seeded Advance Hornets for the district championship Friday night. Advance downed Oran 54-45 in Wednesday’s other semifinal.

The Indians led much of Wednesday’s game, including holding a 14-9 advantage after the opening period and a 31-25 edge at halftime.

Greenville trailed Puxico 37-34 at the start of the fourth quarter, but outscored the Indians 19-7 in the final eight minutes. The Bears hit nine of their 14 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the win and also held Puxico to just two field goals in the period.

“(It was) not one of our better nights,” Greenville coach Nathan Walk said, “but we found a way to get some stops against a well coached team late and were able to hit some free throws.”

Despite the loss, Puxico coach Bryant Fernetti was pleased with his squad’s performance against one of the top teams in Class 2.

“Greenville did a great job of battling and guarding,” Fernetti said. “We went cold and a lot of that was their defense. I’m proud of our effort and how hard we played and competed.”

Trey Porter led the Bears with 18 points, while Ty Huffmaster added 12 and Easton Evans finished with 10.

Thomas Burch paced Puxico with 14 points, while Skyler Zimmerman added nine.

C1D1

Clarkton 59, Risco 55

In Wednesday’s late Class 1 District 1 semifinal at Gideon, the third-seeded Reindeer edged out No. 2 Risco.

“We had some guys really step up tonight after battling foul trouble,” said Clarkton coach Cole McBroom. “I am proud of the total team effort, Owen Morgan really put us on his shoulders in the second half.”

The Reindeer were led by Morgan with 29 points, while Clayton Godsey added 12.

Clarkton faces top-seeded Delta C-7 for the district championship Friday.

Delta C-7 89, Naylor 47

In Wednesday’s first semifinal at Gideon, the top-seeded Chargers got 33 points from C.J. Wallace to defeat the Eagles.

“We let their press rattle us up at the start of the game,” said Naylor coach Ed Moore. “We only scored 17 points in the first half and then 30 in the second half.”

The Eagles were led by senior Preston Johnson and freshman Kollin Thomas with nine points apiece.

C3D3

Jefferson 69, Clearwater 61

In the Class 3 District 3 semifinals at Arcadia Valley High School in Ironton, the sixth-seeded Tigers didn’t go down without a fight in the district semifinals against the No. 2 Jefferson Blue Jays.

“I’m really proud of our teams effort and resilience this year,” Clearwater coach Zac Moore aid.

Clearwater was led by Charles Robbins with 31 points, while Brandon Mayes added 14.

The Blue Jays will face the top-seeded West County Bulldogs for the district championship Friday.