Bernie bounces back with road rout of Oran

ORAN – After watching his team get manhandled by Dexter on its home court last Friday, Bernie High School boy’s basketball coach Jason Long showed no angst whatsoever.

Anytime that you get on a losing streak,” Long said of the four-game skid his team was immersed in, “it’s going to be really easy to say that you should do this or should do that or whatever.

“But we are doing fine.”

That appeared to be the case on Monday, as the Mules jumped all over host Oran from the outset and ran away with a 67-49 victory.

“As a group,” Long said following the win, “we did a pretty good job of staying together. And I thought that (through) the last few games, as well.”

After opening the season with eight consecutive victories, the Mules (10-5) struggled to five defeats in six games. However, on Monday, the Bernie offense was crisp and its defense stifling at times.

“We continued to attack on offense,” Long said of taking a 22-7 lead at the end of the opening quarter. “Then, (Mule senior guard Tristan Johnson) in the second half, got in a little groove.

“We needed him to do that.”

Johnson was held to 14 points in the loss to the Bearcats, however, he put up 13 in the first half against the Eagles (8-7), as the visitors doubled up Oran 36-18.

“That was good for him to have a bounce-back game because we have a good program,” Long said. “I just liked our mindset.”

The Eagles, who opened the season by winning six of their first seven games, have also struggled of late.

Oran (8-7) has dropped six of its last eight games and veteran coach Joe Shoemaker was making no excuses afterward.

“I’ve got to do a better job of getting my team ready,” Shoemaker said. “We’ve got to play harder. I’m doing a poor job as a coach because we’re not playing hard enough right now.”

Oran was more productive in the second half, as it outscored Bernie 17-11 in the third quarter. However, as the Eagles defensive pressure stretched over the final minutes, the ball movement by the Mules, who have an experienced squad, cut up the Eagles.

“We have good kids,” Long said. “You can’t overreact when you lose. And you can’t get too high when you win.”

Johnson paced the Mules with 27 points, including hitting 5 of 7 free throws, while senior Hunter Corzine, who was playing in just his second game of the season after breaking his right hand, added 14 points, including six points in the final quarter, as he served as the back end of the Bernie press break.

“The average fan may not understand this,” Long said of his team, which is finally healthy, “but we are in a great position right now, considering the schedule that we have played and some of the adversity that we have had to overcome.”

Bernie senior shooter Tucker Anthony buried three 3-pointers to score 12 points to add to the win, while his counterpart, Oran senior shooter, Robby Menz connected on five 3-pointers and finished with a team-leading 20 points.

Eagle senior Riley Schlosser added eight in the loss, as he also had the arduous task of face-guarding Johnson all night.

“He is very greedy,” Shoemaker said of Schlosser’s defensive tenacity, “and he never gives up.”

Oran senior forward Kolten Payne chipped in seven points.

The Eagles will travel to Chaffee (6-9) tonight at 7:30 p.m.

Bernie will host Bloomfield (3-12) tonight at 7:15 p.m.