Puxico flies past Tigers

NEELYVILLE — With the best start in recent years, the Puxico Indians boys basketball team continues to flourish as the Indians added another win to their hot streak.

The Neelyville High School Tigers welcomed the Indians into the den for some Tuesday night action on the hardwood. Despite their efforts, the Tigers suffered a 66-44 defeat to the Indians.

The Indians improved their record to 8-0 on the season — and head coach Bryant Fernetti couldn’t be happier about their performance.

“I was really proud of their execution down the stretch,” Fernetti said. “In the fourth quarter, they got about four or five straight layups, and that was probably some of the best late-game execution this group’s had since I’ve been here. Neelyville is a good team and it’s always tough to get a win here, so I’m just extremely proud of the guys.”

Fernetti said the key to keeping this momentum going is execution and playing their game.

This is the season’s first matchup between the two, and the Tigers looked to end their three-game losing streak from the Indians. The last time they faced off, Puxico walked away with a 74-68 victory. Similar to the last encounter, this matchup would come down to the wire.

Both teams stormed onto the court with a burst of energy. The Tigers jumped out front early to take a quick lead, but Puxico stayed on their heels to snatch it back. The Indians built up a strong lead after capitalizing on the Tigers’ turnovers in the first quarter.

The lead wouldn’t last for long as Neelyville powered back to cut the lead to 30-27 with a big 3-pointer from junior guard Zak Cowely before halftime.

The Tigers stayed close for most of the game, but with a series of careless mistakes, the gap stretched further into the fourth. Puxico continued to rack up points and would coast into the Christmas break still undefeated.

Thomas Burch had a monster game for the Indians by scoring 24 points, with most of his baskets landing from inside the paint. Landan Burchard and Scyler Zimmerman both added eight points, while Jett Hancock, Jerrett Powell and Kaysen Long chipped in with five apiece.

The Tigers fall to 4-5 on the season as head coach Brad Burdin saw a few mistakes he would like to get polished before their next matchup.

“I thought early on first quarter, we didn’t execute our game plan,” Burdin said. “In the second quarter, we looked more like what we wanted to accomplish, but after halftime the game just didn’t go our way. I give credit to Puxico because they’re a really great second-half team. We just couldn’t answer whenever they brought that type of scoring intensity they are known for. We couldn’t keep them off the boards for most of the game and that hurt us. We’ll get back in the gym and correct those mistakes.

Casen Stephen led the Tigers with nine points. Grant Hale chipped in seven points and Drew Shands and Kye Wolfram both added six.

Neelyville will host Senath-Hornersville on Thursday, while Puxico will gear up for the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament over the Christmas break.