Bloomfield shows (some) signs of growth through trying season

BLOOMFIELD – The final chapter in the 2022-23 varsity boy’s basketball season at Bloomfield High School mirrored the Wildcats’ season, in general.

There were more than several moments in which Bloomfield showed its potential in its 51-46 loss to a 21-win Advance squad in the opening round of the MSHSAA Class 2 District 3 Tournament on the Wildcats’ home court. However, in the end, there proved to be too many holes in the Wildcat attack for third-year Wildcat coach Kyle Keith and his team.

“They come in and play hard,” Keith said of his kids. “They grind out defensive possessions, and we have gotten better at rebounding.”

Bloomfield dug itself a 14-5 early hole but fought back to make it a one-possession game with less than a minute remaining. It was the second time this season that the Wildcats had played Advance very tough, only to fall late, as Keith’s kids lost to the Hornets by 65-59 in December.

The Wildcats won just four times in 25 outings this season, but nine of those 21 losses were by single digits.

“It’s hard to build confidence when you lose a lot,” Keith said, “but we have a lot of younger guys that are coming up and our future looks bright.”

Senior James Barks paced Bloomfield on Monday with 19 points, while senior Hunter Moore added nine points. However, sophomore Caleb Upchurch had six points, junior Ayden Hutchison (two), sophomore Kayden Craft (four), and junior Lucas Dowdy (six) did contribute.

“I feel like we are pretty good at (defense and rebounding),” Keith said. “We can struggle to score at times, so we’ve got to really guard hard to make up for that.”

For the second straight season, Bloomfield held teams to under 60 points per game, and there were signs of offensive growth.

For the first time since the 2019 season, the Wildcats averaged over 50 points each night.

“We hang our hat on our defense,” Keith said, “and how hard we play, and I am proud of how hard they played.”

As far as this off-season is concerned, Keith said the plan is pretty simple for his returning players.

“We need to get in the gym and get a bunch of shots up,” Keith said. “We need to get in the weight room and lift a bunch of weights.”