Holcomb flips switch after ‘flat’ start for conference rivalry win over Clarkton

HOLCOMB — Tuesday night’s matchup between the Holcomb Hornets (9-8) and the Clarkton Reindeer (10-9) was much more than conference rivalry, despite the consequential upcoming tournament seedings. It was also a more friendly, albeit fierce, rivalry game between two coaches who go way back.

Clarkton head coach Cole McBroom and Holcomb head coach Michael Snider have known one another since they were “running around in diapers.” The two coaches grew up together, attended Twin Rivers together and have played basketball with one another since they were in junior high.

“Coach McBroom, I love that guy,” Snider said. “He’s one of my great friends, we’ve had each other’s back and we’ve been basically brothers our whole life.”

Despite not being the ones on the court these days, the thrill of beating one another resurfaces each time the two teams donned in purple and white face off. If McBroom or Snider have to lose a game, however, it stings just a little less if it’s against the other.

That tense spirit of competition simmering in the background for years was palpable Tuesday night as the teams battled back and forth, ultimately leading to a 58-44 victory for Holcomb.

“I’m really, really proud of him,” McBroom said. “He does a really good job. While I’m mad about losing to him, I’m proud of the job he does. There’s nobody I’d rather beat, but in the grand scheme of things I’m very happy for him.”

McBroom’s Reindeer came out ready to fight as they outscored Holcomb 12-5 in the first quarter with six points contributed by James Johnson, four by Bryant Redden and two by Amauri Gorman.

Despite a stunning start to the game, Clarkton’s advantage wouldn’t last long.

Holcomb’s Max Harmon opened the second quarter with a layup, and soon after he put in another to bring the Hornets’ deficit to just one point. Moments later, Landon Smith executed a steal and passed to Braiden Burk who tossed in the layup that gave Holcomb its first lead in the game.

“I thought that we came out really flat,” Snider said. “Clarkton came out and did a great job of exposing us being flat. Credit to Coach McBroom because he had his kids ready to play from the get-go and they really punched us in the mouth.”

Holcomb's Braiden Burn searches for an open teammate to pass the ball against Clarkton on Tuesday.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

“We were just fortunate that we were able to flip the switch,” he continued. “We’ve been talking about that a lot: playing hard, having intensity and doing the simple things. Once we got settled down, that’s what we did. We were able to get some deflections, steals, run-outs and we made the game a lot easier playing hard with the little things.”

A brief back and forth saw Clarkton’s James Johnson score for two to retake the lead, but then Burk put down a 3-pointer that led to a Holcomb advantage that would hold for the remainder of the game.

Leading by just two points, 24-22, at halftime, the third quarter is where it all happened for Holcomb.

Burk scored an immediate 3-point shot to open the second half. As the Hornets’ press stepped up, Holcomb stole the ball away three times before Clarkton scored for the first time with a layup put in by Johnson.

As Clarkton fought to end the run, Burk sank an easy 3-pointer to maintain the Hornets’ 10 point lead. After Burk scored seven points, Noah Kenner scored four and both Jacob Reeves-Crittendon and Max Harmon scored two, Holcomb took a comfortable 40-28 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“In the third quarter when they went on their run, we didn’t have good ball movement and it caused us to force a lot of shots,” McBroom said. “Sometimes we’re a team that can hit tough shots and sometimes we don’t. Tonight, they forced us to shoot tough shots and we didn’t hit tough shots.”

Kenner’s hands got hot in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter as he opened with a layup, followed it up with a steal which he handed off to Reeves-Crittendon for a layup, and he ended his game with a 3-pointer to pull away by 20 points.

Clarkton went on to perform a seven-point run, making the final period much closer than the third. The Reindeer scored 16 points compared to Holcomb’s 18. Ended by a layup by Clarkton’s James Johnson, Holcomb won the game 58-44.

Clarkton's James Johnson charges down court in the first half of Tuesday's game against Holcomb.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

Noah Kenner led Holcomb in scoring with 17 points followed by Braiden Burk with 14, Max Harmon with 10, Jacob Reeves-Crittendon with nine, Hunter Lawrence with four, Bryce McNabb with three and Landon Smith with one.

James Johnson, the game’s leading scorer, paced Clarkton with 18 points, followed by Bryant Redden with 11, Amauri Gorman with eight, Owen Morgan with five and Clayton Godsey with three.

The win moved Holcomb into winning record territory and secured a likely spot as one of the top seeds in the impending Tri-County Conference Tournament behind Cooter.

Holcomb had won three games in a row, most recently taking down Risco on the Tigers’ homecoming night last Friday. Clarkton secured a stellar victory over Scott County Central during their own homecoming game Friday as well.

Next, Clarkton travels to Zalma on Thursday with a junior varsity game beginning at 6 p.m. Holcomb travels to South Pemiscot Thursday at the same time.