Higher seeds roll on C2D1 tournament opening night

__(3) Neelyville vs (6) Campbell__

Number three-seeded Neelyville (13-12) secured a 53-37 win over number six-seeded Campbell (8-18) Monday in the opening round of the Class 2 District 1 tournament at Holcomb High School.

With a contentious, albeit relatively slow, start to Monday night’s game, Neelyville and Campbell tied at 9-9 in the waning minutes of the first quarter with a two-point jumper by the Camels’ Sam Bunting.

Neelyville went on a quick run before the first quarter buzzer, however, and with a layup by Brock Davis the Tigers took a 15-9 lead.

“Campbell is a very tough team,” Neelyville coach Brad Burdin said. “They play very physical and they’re always looking to score. With their grit and their continual improvement, we knew they would be a tough team. We battled for everything we earned tonight, which is a good thing going into the next game I think.”

Neelyville never gave up their advantage in spite of ten Campbell players making it into the scoring column.

After securing the lead, the Tigers led 31-22 at halftime, 42-27 at the end of the third quarter and secured a hard-fought 42-37 victory to advance and play second-seeded Bernie Wednesday in the tournament semifinals.

Neelyville’s imposing defense sealed the deal for the Tigers’ advancement, and they did so by limiting every Camel player but one to single digit scoring. The exception: Sam Bunting, Campbell’s most obvious threat, according to Burdin.

“We knew Bunting was a big part of their game,” Burdin said. “He didn’t get too hot in the first half, but we knew that he could in the second half so we tried to keep the ball out of his hands as much as possible. And I think that was a big contributor to us pulling away a little bit.”

Neelyville's Casen Stephens takes a three-point shot against Campbell Monday night.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

While Campbell was held to just five points total in the third quarter, Neelyville had four players score for a total of 11.

Brock Davis led the way for Neelyville with 18 points. He was followed by Preston Goodnight with 11 and Casen Stephens with eight.

Sam Bunting paced the Camels with 12 points. Ben Rowland scored six and Jackson Anthony, Logan Townsend and Jake Hensley each scored three.

Neelyville’s semifinal battle against Bernie will be similarly, if not more so, physical and challenging amid the parity of the entire district.

“Bernie can shoot the ball extremely well and they guard very well,” Burdin said. “They’re a very well-conditioned team but we look forward to the challenge and hopefully we can compete. If we win then that’s just icing on the cake.”

__(2) Bernie vs (7) Hayti__

Second-seeded Bernie (21-6) had its hands full Monday night in the opening round of the Class 2 District 1 tournament. The Mules successfully contended with a ferocious attempt at an upset by number seven-seeded Hayti (4-19) to win 94-71 and advance to play third-seeded Neelyville Wednesday.

“We just have to play well,” Bernie coach Jason Long said. “We’re not focused on targets or what anyone else thinks we should be, we’re just trying to be the best us we can be. This was not an easy 2-7 matchup at all, and we had to come out and do things well today to win.”

Bernie outscored Hayti in all four quarters, but things started out very uncertain for the Mules in the beginning.

Hayti shot out of the gate quickly, taking a 12-5 lead in the early minutes of the game, largely spearheaded by the offensive power of Kanye Jones who scored 13 of his 31 total points in the first quarter alone.

With a three-pointer by Bernie’s Landon Ellsworth, however, the Mules tied the game at 17-17 and another shot beyond the arc by Hunter Corzine gave the Mules a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“They’re talented, period, end of story,” Long said. “They’re a very difficult matchup for us with their size and their speed, and they also have some guys who are really skilled. It’s one possession at a time and you just have to keep plugging.”

The Mules led 22-19 after the first quarter, 39-33 at halftime, 63-49 after the third quarter and won the game 94-71.

Bernie senior Tristan Johnson searches for an open teammate while he is guarded by Hayti�s Jeremiah Brown Monday night in the opening round of the Class 2 District 1 tournament at Holcomb High School.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

Bernie’s Michia Schooley broke out in the second half to score 13 points in the third quarter, 12 of those from three-pointers, and 11 points in the fourth quarter. Corzine paced the Mules in the final quarter with 14 points.

Michia Schooley led Bernie in scoring with a game-high 34 points followed by Hunter Corzine with 23 and Tristan Johnson with 16.

Kanye Jones’ 31 total points made him Hayti’s top gun. He was followed by Keion Hamilton with 16, Quintral Clay with 13 and Jeremiah Brown with seven.

Bernie will take on number three-seeded Neelyville (13-12) Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s going to be a very tough district tournament semifinal matchup,” Long said. “At this point you have to be prepared for anything and everything.”

__(4) South Pemiscot vs (5) Holcomb__

Fourth-seeded South Pemiscot (15-12) overcame a sluggish start and dug themselves out of an early hole to bury Holcomb 84-63 to advance in the C2D1 tournament Monday night.

“That was a heck of a win for our guys,” South Pemiscot coach Jordan McGowan said. “Holcomb came out and punched us in the mouth early, and I thought we responded to it really well. We had three freshmen absolutely step their game up big time, not to take anything away from our seniors, but our freshmen are playing varsity for a reason.”

Holcomb won the tip to start the game, Maxon Harmon got an easy lay-in and Braiden Burk followed it up with a three-pointer to seemingly set the tone for the night.

After the Hornets took a 10-2 lead with five minutes remaining in the first quarter, South Pemiscot found their stride to come back and tie 15-15.

“I thought we played extremely hard and we did what we wanted to do on offense pretty well,” Holcomb coach Michael Snider said. “On the defensive end of the floor, I felt like they got too many offensive rebounds and it let them get hot. Credit to them, they were ready to play and they took care of business.”

The Bulldogs’ Hunter Nelson found the net with a layup to take the lead and Trevan Shuburte put in a three-pointer to cement the lead South Pemiscot would maintain.

South Pemiscot outscored Holcomb 22-9 in the second quarter, and a three-pointer by Robert Farmer pushed the Bulldogs past 40 points to a nearly 20-point lead.

South Pemiscot led 20-15 after the first quarter, 42-24 at halftime, 60-36 at the end of the third quarter and won 84-63.

South Pemiscot defenders block a shot by Holcomb's Max Harmon Monday night.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

Bulldog fans brought the energy to the Holcomb gymnasium Monday night, and as Matt Moore put in a behind-the-back layup to cross 60 points in the third quarter the crowd grew to a clamor.

Holcomb outscored South Pemiscot 27-24 in the fourth quarter, but their deficit was too much to overcome as Bulldog shooters hit shot after shot despite the pressure of Holcomb’s brand new man defense.

“We’re shooting the ball well right now with Trevan Shuburte, Matt Moore and Robert Farmer,” McGowan said. “When we’re shooting with our two bigs in, it’s hard to guard.”

Holcomb had eight players in the scoring column, with Max Harmon topping it off with 18 points. He was followed up by Jacob Reeves-Crittendon with 12, Landon Smith with nine and both Noah Kenner and Braiden Burk with eight.

Robert Farmer paced South Pemiscot with 26 points at the end of the night. Trevan Shuburte scored 15 points all in three-pointers, Jaterion Smith scored 13, Logan Welch scored 10, and Logan Southern and Matt Moore each scored nine.

South Pemiscot advances to play first-seeded Cooter Wednesday at 6 p.m.

“Hopefully we can bring our A game again Wednesday,” McGowan said. “It’s about playing well at the right time, and I think our kids definitely got ready and we’ve hit our stride. I’m just hoping it can keep going.”