Hornets stall Cubs' attempt at revenge

Advance's offensive strategy against Bell City was simple.

It was to get the ball to senior David VanGennip and have him shoot it.

"Coach just told me to shoot the ball," VanGennip said. "They put a man on Jake [Bond] and shut him down and [coach] said, 'You're the scorer. Just shoot about every time you get if you want.'"

VanGennip scored 31 points to help the No. 7 Hornets roll to an easy 59-41 victory over the No. 10 Cubs in the first round of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center on Friday.

Advance improved to 6-1 while Bell City dropped to 3-4.

For VanGennip, the victory was sweet after he and his teammates took a beating in the first round of the tournament last year, when they lost to Notre Dame 70-29.

But with their win over the Cubs, the Hornets now will play Notre Dame in the second round today.

"Last year Notre Dame beat us by about 40, so this is a little confidence booster," VanGennip said. "We wanted to blow this team out because if they gave us a close game, we know Notre Dame is twice the team this team was."

VanGennip scored 22 of his 31 points in the first half. He helped his team build a 19-9 after the first quarter and 38-14 at halftime.

"A game like tonight, what do you do?" Bell City coach Brian Brandtner said. "We sent two or three guys at him [VanGennip]. He still was burning the shots. We tried different defenses. We tried a bunch of different things. We weren't going to contain him tonight.

"He's just a smart player. He takes what you give him. There were times when he was matched up one-on-one and did a good job scoring. There were times when we came and helped and he kicked and hit the open guy. You've got to give credit to him on that."

The game was expected to be a close one. The two teams appeared pretty evenly matched when they met Dec. 9 in Advance, with the Hornets winning 57-53. In that first matchup, VanGennip scored a late 3-pointer to help seal the win.

But VanGennip was on the bench for most of the fourth quarter Friday after the show he put on during the first half.

Advance first year coach Josh Dowdy said VanGennip was able to make a number of open shots in the first half when Bell City played a man-to-man defense.

"He [Brandtner] went to a man quite a bit, and I knew they had a tough time matching up with David," Dowdy said. "I just gave the ball to him and spread the floor and let him create. ... A lot of times he'd invite the help, and he made some clutch shots."

Dowdy said he has tried to get the ball in VanGennip's hands more this season. He said his idea from the start of the season was to feed VanGennip in the post, but also let him shoot outside.

VanGennip's strong performance was after his cousin, Darren VanGennip, poured in 15 points in the tournament game right before at 6 p.m. to help Leopold past Oran.

"We've been competitive in the past on who can score the most points," David VanGennip said about his relationship with his cousin Darren. "Hopefully, I got him tonight. He always calls me after games [and says], 'How many did you score blah, blah, blah.' He's averaging what? Twenty, 30 points a game, so he's doing a little better."

Ronnie Gross led Bell City with 15 points. Everyone else struggled shooting the ball for the Cubs.

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Bell City951116--41

Advance1919147--59

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Bell City (41) -- Melvin Johnson 3, Jeff Long 6, Ronnie Gross 15, Skylor Blackler 6, Leonard Schaefer 2, Brandon Bell 1, John Arnold 2, Long 2, Josh Overbey 3, Alan Hess 1. FG 16, FT 6-16, F 18. (3-pointers: Johnson 1, J. Long 1, Gross 1. Fouled out: None.)

Advance (59) -- Brad Steil 3, Luke Steil 5, Matt Ware 2, David VanGennip 31, Tyler Slinkard 3, Cody VanGennip 2, Blake Seabaugh 2, Jacob Bond 8, Darren VanGennip 3. FG 19, FT 18-32, F 14. (3-pointers: David VanGennip 2, Slinkard 1. Fouled out: None.)