Bloomfield boys basketball downs Advance in battle of Stoddard County undefeateds

ADVANCE, Mo. -- An undefeated team was going to lose no matter what, and on Friday night that turned out to be Advance.

The Hornets simply got out-played by a sharp Bloomfield squad as the Wildcats took the battle between the previously undefeated Stoddard County rivals, 59-42, at Advance High School in a game that was much closer than the final score might indicate.

Advance (5-1) had not scored less than 77 points this season, but Bloomfield (6-0) played high-energy defense and rarely let the Hornets get out in transition after the first quarter.

"Just a tremendous effort by our guys tonight," Bloomfield coach Jason Karnes said. "To come on the road in somebody else's gym and a team that's as good as Advance -- golly, they're good -- and walk out with a double-digit win, that's just a great accomplishment. That's a big-time win for us."

The Wildcats used good ball movement to give the Advance zone whiplash, getting open looks at the basket and knocking them down. Bloomfield was 10 of 20 from 3-point range -- an area it used to get back in the game after trailing 18-12 entering the second quarter -- and 18 of 36 from the field.

"They out-scrapped us all night," Advance coach Bubba Wheetley said. "They played harder. I thought their defense played harder. Really, what I saw, they moved the ball very well and passed the ball well and it was tough for us to get out on them. And they shot the ball well -- they shot it much better than I thought they'd shoot the ball from 3-point range. They just out-played us. They beat us.

"This is what we need. It really is. Show us we're not near as good as we think we are. Can we be [that good]? Yes. But we've got some work to do."

Advance cut the game as close as three points when Austin Ladd turned a conventional three-point play to make things 45-42 with 6:39 left to play, and it looked like momentum might be shifting when CJ Seger forced a jump ball down on the other end of the floor and got the ball back to the Hornets. But the hosts didn't convert, and a minute later Bloomfield's Tyler Battles sank a 3-pointer on the other end to push the advantage to 48-42.

That was the beginning of the end for the Hornets, as the triple sparked a 14-0 run to close the game and seal the victory. The visitors out-scored Advance 18-5 in the final eight minutes.

"I think what we proved, if anything, was that we're a pretty good team still," Karnes said. "Maybe people thought that coming into tonight and maybe people still think that, but we've got a lot to prove. We've still got a long ways to go and a lot of things we can get better at, but I like the way these guys are playing and the direction they're going."

Noah Vandiver led all scorers with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-5 from long range. Tyler Battles added 14 and Peyton Bell pitched in 13 for the visitors.

Preston Wuebker and Dakota Welty each had 11 points for Advance, which shot just 14 of 42 on the night.

"You can't take one possession off from those guys," Karnes said. "Those guys are so good offensively. They can put the ball in the hole and they're so big and athletic and you just can't take a possession off. You've got to rebound -- when they do miss a shot, you've got to make sure you limit them to one.

"We didn't do a good job at the start of getting back in transition and that got us off to a poor start, but once we got back and could stay in front of them and make them run their halfcourt offense ... it was just a great effort."

Armani Vermillion scored seven points in the first quarter for the Hornets, feasting on transition buckets to help his side out to an 18-12 advantage after one period of play. Dawson Mayo made that 20-12 at 6:47 of the second quarter thanks to a mismatch in the post. But that was Mayo's last basket until 1:21 of the third quarter, and it marked the largest lead Advance had on the night.

From there, Bloomfield began to chip away. Battles hit a 3 and Bell got to the hoop and all of a sudden it was a one-possession game.

The Wildcats took their first lead since 5:36 of the first when Vandiver knocked down a basket from outside the arc for a 23-21 edge with 3:05 left in the second quarter. The teams traded blows until Bell got a pair of free throws to put Bloomfield up 28-26 going into halftime. Advance never led again.

Wuebker scored a pair of baskets to slice the deficit to 34-32 with 4:01 left in the third, but Bell responded in transition and Battles hit again from 3-point land and the Wildcats stretched things back out to 39-32.

Entering the final period of play with a 43-37 lead, Bloomfield closed things out with smart ball movement to capture a big early-season win.

With Vandiver's first basket of the game -- a 3-pointer at 2:40 of the first quarter -- the 6-foot-3 Bloomfield senior went over the 1,000-point career scoring mark.

"The thing about him [is] he's the most unselfish 1,000-point player I've ever seen or anyone would ever see," Karnes said. "He didn't know it, and when we told him in [the locker room] he said, 'It's all thanks to you guys.' He said that to his teammates. That's what type of kid he is."

Bloomfield is back in action when it hosts its Bloomfield Christmas Tournament beginning Saturday.

Advance will also be in holiday play as it takes to the floor as the No. 5 seed in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament beginning Saturday at the Show Me Center in Cape Giraradeau.

Bloomfield 12 16 13 18 -- 59

Advance 18 8 11 5 -- 42

BLOOMFIELD (59) -- Tim Hecter 5, Nathan Newell 2, Austin Bond 3, Tyler Battles 14, Noah Vandiver 15, Peyton Bell 13, Caleb Pulley 5, Joe Clary 2. FG 18-36, FT 13-19, F 15. (3-pointers: Vandiver 4, Battles 4, Hecter, Pulley. Fouled out: Vandiver.)

ADVANCE (42) -- Armani Vermillion 7, Austin Ladd 8, Preston Wuebker 11, Dawson Mayo 5, Dakota Welty 11. FG 14-42, FT 10-15, F 19. (3-pointers: Welty 3, Wuebker. Fouled out: Whitson.)