East Praire unseats No. 1 seed Caruthersville in Gideon Tournament

GIDEON, Mo. — East Prairie, the No. 4 seeded underdogs, toppled tournament favorite and top-seeded Caruthersville 75-59 in a semifinal that rocked the Gideon Bulldog Classic.

Noah Johnson unleashed a 29-point barrage, propelling the Eagles (2-0) to the upset over the Tigers (1-1) on Thursday, Nov. 30.

“We knew coming in we had to handle their pressure,” said East Prairie coach Gary Scott. “Our guys made the adjustments from a poor performance Tuesday night. We did a lot of things well tonight. I’m very proud of the energy they brought against an athletic Caruthersville team. We had some guys who never came out of the game and sucked it up for four quarters. We played more as a team and got good looks at the rim all night. We’re gonna need to play just as well tomorrow night to give ourselves a shot at winning the tournament.”

Connor Marcum and Ty Wallace each contributed 14 points for East Prairie, while Sammy Bryant (18) was Caruthersville’s top performer.

East Prairie will face second-seeded Kennett (2-0) in the tournament championship on Friday, Dec. 1 at 8:30 p.m.

__EAST PRAIRIE 75, CARUTHERSVILLE 59__

E. Prairie 25 22 13 15 — 75

C’Ville 17 11 21 10 — 59

East Prairie (75) — Noah Johnson 29, Ty Wallace 14, Connor Marcum 14, Evan Kennedy 9, Kamron Farmer 5, Braylan Cade 2, Rayne Jerrigan 2. FG: 29. FT: 15-25. F: 15. (3-pointers; Marcum 2. Fouled out: none).

Caruthersville (59) — Sammy Bryant 18, Jermonte Alexander 12, Abeyon Motton 8, DanKqwon Spates 8, Quawnterrious McVay 4, Colbe Sargent 4, Terrance Jackson 3, Gavin Motton 2. FG: 25. FT: 6-11. F: 24. (3-pointers: Jackson 1. Fouled out: Bryant, McVay).