Hot-shot Panthers find their touch beyond the arc

If it was pool, the Meadow Heights Panthers' favorite call would be "Three ball, corner pocket."

The Panthers' boys basketball team has been turning gymnasiums into billiard halls -- and running the table.

Powered by its prowess with the three ball, Meadow Heights has been chalking up win after win. With a 12-4 record, the Panthers are having their best season in more than a decade, and they've been on a deadly 3-point shooting tear.

The Panthers broke their long-standing, single-game 3-point record of 14 on Thursday. They connected on 16 of 36 attempts in a 101-65 victory over Kingston. The school record lasted all of four days.

Monday night the Panthers raised the mark to 18, sinking nearly half of their 38 attempts in a 105-58 victory over Chaffee in the Mississippi Valley Conference Tournament.

According to the MSHSAA record book, Meadow Height's 18 treys is second all-time. Scott City holds the state single-game 3-point record with 24 against Egyptian (Ill.) in 1997.

"If someone gives us a step we can hit it," Meadow Heights coach Tom Brown said. "It's fun to watch it."

Senior Joey Bell led the way both nights, hitting seven against Kingston and six against Chaffee. Bell, who averages more than 27 points a game, is shooting 49 percent from 3-point range. He had 34 points at halftime against Kingston on 7-of-8 3-point shooting, but he saw little playing time in the second half and finished with 36 points.

Three-point shooting is just not a varsity specialty for the Panthers. The junior varsity recently hit for nine in a game. Freshmen comprise all but two players on the 8-4 JV squad. Three freshmen are shooting over 40 percent from 3-point range. The Panthers also have freshman Terry Wagner on the varsity. Wagner was a combined 8 of 17 from behind the arc in the record-setting wins.

The state's team 3-point record for a season is 234, set by East Carter County a year ago. Brown sees that record falling as his sharp-shooting freshmen progress.

"If they keep working hard, they'll blast that out of the water by the time they're seniors," Brown said.

Mark 'em down: Big games are coming up

It's a big week for Bell City (17-3) basketball with two games that teams like to circle in the preseason.

The defending state champions, ranked No. 2 in Class 1, will first visit Oran on Friday for a rivalry game before playing host to nemesis Dexter on Tuesday.

Bell City defeated the Eagles in the Class 1, District 2 championship game last season on its way to the state title. Oran exacted revenge earlier this season with a 63-62 win in the semifinals of its own early-season tournament. Bell City answered that with a 67-58 win in the third-place game of the seMissourian.com Christmas Tournament. The teams could meet a fourth time in the district tournament.

Dexter, a Class 4 school, cooled off the sizzling Cubs with a 78-69 victory Friday in the championship game of the Stoddard County Conference Tournament played at Bloomfield High School. Dexter disregarded Bell City's eight-game winning streak that saw the Cubs average 97.6 points.

Dexter handed Bell City two of its four losses last year but must try to maintain its spell on the road.

Another big meeting Tuesday will feature rivals for all seasons, Central and Jackson. The much-improved Tigers will visit the Indians in their third meeting of the season. The earlier encounters both came in tournaments with Jackson defeating Central 64-50 in the Farmington Invitational and the Tigers turning the tables, 56-53, for fifth place in the seMissourian Christmas Tournament.

District wrestling meet arrives on Saturday

High school wrestlers launch their bids for state titles Saturday when district tournaments are held.

Central will compete at the Class 2, District 1 meet at Ste. Genevieve High School while Jackson will participate in the Class 3, District 1 meet at House Springs Northwest.

The top four wrestlers Saturday advance to the sectional meet Feb. 15. The top four wrestlers from sectional competition qualify for the state meet Feb. 20 to 22 at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo.

jbreer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 124