Cooter holds off Holcomb for conference championship title

COOTER – First-seeded Cooter may have been a bit surprised by what second-seeded Holcomb brought to the table Wednesday night in the Tri-County Conference Tournament championship game, but the Wildcats held on and made some adjustments to win another championship title 74-66 on their home court.

“That was a great game,” Cooter head coach David Mathis said. “These conference championships are always a war.”

Cooter (21-2) had taken down North Pemiscot and Risco in their battle to advance to the championship while Holcomb (12-11) defeated both Southland and Delta C-7.

Cooter took an early lead in the game before Holcomb’s Jacob Reeves-Crittendon put in a three-pointer to take a 9-8 advantage. Cooter’s Hayden Nazarenus wasted no time in answering the swing with a layup and two free throws to pull back ahead, however.

Holcomb's Jacob Reeves-Crittendon shoots a layup against Cooter Wednesday night. Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

“Did we surprise some people? Yes,” Holcomb head coach Michael Snider said. “But I think if you ask our kids, they expected to be in the game. And that’s all you can ask for. You ask for the mentality of ‘I’m supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be playing here and this is a chance and a moment that we have to seize.’”

Holcomb’s Braiden Burk scored back to back three-point shots to tie and then pull ahead once again, and with a final three-point play by Reeves-Crittendon the Hornets took a 22-19 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

An intensely competitive second quarter opened with a layup by Cooter but was followed by yet another three-pointer by Burk. Following back to back steals, Cooter’s Rhoads Lynn found the net with a three-point play to retake the lead 28-25 with four minutes remaining. With more back and forth, a final three-point shot by Lynn tied the game 33-33 going into halftime.

“I was really proud of our kids’ mentality, focus and effort,” Snider said. “Any time you come in and play a team you think is better than you, all you’re hoping for is the kids to do their part to minimize the talent level. That’s playing as hard as you can, rebounding the ball like crazy, getting on the floor and diving and defending. I thought we did a fantastic job tonight.”

And then the tides turned for the Wildcats.

Cooter’s Luke Barnes executed a steal and put in a dunk to open the second half and take the lead. Just beginning his outlandishly successful quarter, he followed it up with a three-pointer and drove Cooter fans to a frenzy.

Cooter's Luke Barnes shoots a three-pointer in Wednesday night's championship game against Holcomb.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

“We made some big shots,” Mathis said. “Luke Barnes was just absolutely a monster inside. We took a few charges and we didn’t play our pace, but we’re a team that can grind it out or can play fast and we just proved that.”

Barnes scored 16 points in the third quarter alone, and he put an end to an attempted Holcomb comeback just as seconds began ticking away. With a final layup by Nazarenus, Cooter led 56-45 entering the final quarter of play.

Holcomb outscored Cooter 21-18 in the fourth quarter, but their efforts were not enough to contend with the deficit in which they found themselves following the Wildcats’ hard-fought third quarter plays.

A three-pointer by Holcomb’s Noah Kenner narrowed the gap to five points with two minutes left on the clock, and Holcomb’s Landon Smith put in another just before the buzzer, but Cooter will remain at the top of the Tri-County Conference for another year with an eight-point victory.

“We were in our main zone in our defense, and then they were hitting shots so we switched it up and it hurt them a little bit,” Mathis said. “We stayed with it in the second half and jumped out a little bit, but hats off to them. They played great and we were lucky to win.”

Next, Holcomb hosts Bloomfield next Tuesday, Feb. 14. Cooter plays Principia, a new-found rival ranked second in the state among Class 2 teams, tomorrow night.

Holcomb varsity basketball players pose for photos after taking second place in the Tri-County Conference Tournament championship Wednesday night. Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat