Cubs charge into Class 1 title game

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Bell City boys basketball team used a combination of depth and outside shooting to breeze through the MSHSAA Show Me Showdown Class 1 semifinal on Friday night with a 79-49 victory against Bevier at the Hearnes Center.

Bell City (28-4) will play St. Elizabeth (22-8) for the championship at 9:30 tonight. St. Elizabeth defeated North Andrew 40-34 in Friday's late semifinal.

The Cubs, who routinely use as many as 10 players, ran Bevier's eight players into the ground. Bevier, which rarely substitutes, had to use its bench more extensively due to foul trouble.

"It's not just hard, it's a little demoralizing," Bevier coach Randy Julius said of Bell City's depth.

With the Wildcats worn down in the first half, Bell City claimed a 15-point lead by intermission and started to run away with it in the third quarter. Zak McIntyre and Dominitrix Johnson combined for 20 points in the third, as Bell City jumped ahead by as many as 27 points late in the period. With less than two minutes remaining in the quarter, Johnson, who typically does not come out of the game until late in the fourth, was already soaking up some bench time.

"That way he won't have to sit in the ice as much tonight," Bell City coach David Heeb joked after the game.

Ten Bell City players recorded at least eight minutes, and 13 players got into the game. Johnson, who usually averages just under 32 minutes a game, only played 25 minutes.

"We've played 10 deep most of the season and we haven't been 100 percent all year," Heeb said.

Conn connectsWhile Bell City's depth which hurt the Wildcats in the second half, the outside shooting of Randy Conn made the difference early. Conn hit 4-of-8 first-half 3-pointers as Bell City built a 42-27 halftime lead.

"I missed my first two, and I heard their coach say let him shoot," Conn said. "That was a little inspiration."

Conn's early scoring helped make up for a slow start by Johnson. Coming in with a 29-point scoring average, Johnson was scoreless in the first quarter.

Johnson still managed to scored 12 points in the first half. He also pulled down eight rebounds in the first half to go with three assists.

McIntyre said he was happy to see Bell City comfortably ahead without Johnson scoring, but he'd rather see the Cubs' star hitting his shots.

"It makes you feel good when we have a player who's all-state and we're still up 15," he said. "But it would make me feel better if his shots are falling and we're up 45."

The Wildcats actually hung around for much of the first half. Bevier's leading scorer, John Bailey, scored 14 first-half points, and Bell City's 11 fouls gave the Wildcats 12 first-half free throw opportunities.

"I just think they had some jitters," Heeb said. "I told our guys we can't foul just because they did. When we settled down and quit fouling we put them away."

Johnson led the Cubs with 22 points. Conn finished with 20, including a 5-of-11 3-point performance. McIntyre added 17 points, including three 3-pointers.

"We only have one guy that averages double figures," Heeb said, "but we've got 10 kids that can hurt you."

Bailey led Bevier with 20 points. The Wildcats shot 18-of-54 from 2-point range and only 3-of-16 from 3-point range.

"We really just didn't shoot the ball as well as we have the last couple of games," Julius said.