C2D3 BKB: Top-seed Puxico pulls away for W over stubborn Oran

BLOOMFIELD – The Puxico High School varsity boy’s basketball squad has been here before. Literally.

In December, the Indians were the favored team to win the annual Bloomfield Christmas Tournament, only to be knocked off by eventual champion Malden in a semifinal game at the historic gymnasium.

Last month, Puxico was, again, expected to win the Stoddard County Athletic Association Tournament, played at Bloomfield, only to fall to Richland (Essex) in the title game.

And on Thursday, yes, the top-seeded Indians had to deal with another team, this time it was Oran, who wanted to send Puxico home disappointed.

Perhaps, the Indians have learned some lessons this winter, because, over the closing 10-plus minutes of the game, they pulled away from the Eagles for a 74-62 semifinal win in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 3 Tournament at Bloomfield.

“Nobody wants their season to end,” third-year Puxico coach Bryant Fernetti said following the victory.

Puxico senior Thomas Burch and Oran senior Elijah Shoemaker certainly didn’t.

Burch opened the game by drilling four of his five 3-pointers in the opening quarter to try and send a message to the Eagles (12-15).

“(Oran coach Joe Shoemaker) is a good coach,” Fernetti said. “I told our guys that Oran isn’t going to quit. They don’t want their careers to end right now.”

Elijah Shoemaker showed that.

In what would be his final game, as well as his father’s final game of leading the Oran program (he announced his retirement following the game), Elijah put in 13 of his game-high 26 points in the first eight minutes, as Puxico held a narrow 22-19 margin entering the second quarter.

The Indians (21-5) led just 35-30 at halftime, and early in the third period, Oran had pulled to within 43-40.

“It just seemed like we couldn’t quite put them away,” Fernetti said. “They even fought back there a little bit at the end. They have a lot of seniors, you know.”

Oran has eight seniors, to be exact, but the Indians have a ton of talent, and they began to exhibit that in the second half.

Puxico got offense from five different players in the third quarter and outscored Oran 21-12 to give itself some breathing room.

“Puxico hit some shots,” Coach Shoemaker said, “and they cleaned up the defensive boards. We didn’t get many second opportunities.

“Early on, we had some turnovers, and they were hitting shots, but we got some second opportunities.”

The Indians also did a more than solid job at the free-throw line late.

As Oran was trying to stay alive, Puxico drained 15 of 19 free throws in the second half.

“I felt that we kind of upped our energy a little bit,” Fernetti said of the win. “We rebounded better during that (second half) stretch. That is what kept Oran in the game. They got a lot of offensive rebounds.”

Burch finished with 19 points while Indian sophomore guard Landan Burchard put in 14 of his team-leading 21 points in the second half, including nailing all nine of his free throws on the night.

Puxico junior Mason Parsley added 10 points while senior Skyler Zimmerman tallied nine points.

Elijah Shoemaker was helped by Eagle senior guard Cooper Senciboy, who finished with 13 points while Brenden Campbell and Carson Kern chipped in six points apiece.

Puxico will move on to battle Advance (6-20) on Saturday for the championship at 1 p.m.

The No. 7 seed Hornets got past No. 3 seed Meadow Heights 69-53 in the other semifinal after opening the tournament with a 65-63 win over No. 2 seed Bloomfield on Tuesday.