SCAA: Bloomfield has that 'winning' feeling going right now

BLOOMFIELD – It’s another week of the boy’s basketball season, and another noteworthy achievement can be recognized for the Bloomfield High School varsity boy’s squad.

In a winter of much content, the No. 4-seed Wildcats added another chapter of success to their 2023-24 story on Tuesday, as they got past Bernie 48-39 in the opening round of the Stoddard County Athletic Association Tournament at the historic Bloomfield High School gymnasium.

“We haven’t played on the winner’s side of the bracket in (the SCAA Tourney) since 2017,” first-year Bloomfield coach Ben Sindle said. “That was our goal. We want to play for a championship. That is what we stressed.”

The Wildcat win over the No. 5-seed Mules was the second one this season, which followed 13 consecutive Bloomfield beatings by the boys down South.

“Bernie is a well-coached team,” Sindle said. “They are a tough team. They are always hard to play against.”

Bloomfield (7-8) topped the Mules in its own Christmas Tournament 65-44, which followed a 42-31 Bernie win back in November.

“The first time we played them,” Sindle said, “it was the second game of the year and we were trying to get into the swing of things (and) what the expectation level was from me.”

The “expectation level” for the Wildcats, as they have learned over the past few months, is effort and success.

The victory on Tuesday was the seventh for Bloomfield this season, which is the most since 2018. The next Wildcat victory will be the program’s eighth, which ties that 2018 mark.

“I love it for the kids,” Sindle said.

The Mules led 12-9 at the end of the opening period and were down just 23-22 at halftime. However, the Wildcats pressured Bernie into miscues throughout the second half, and after outscoring the Mules 11-4 in the third period, alone, the game was an uphill battle for the Mules the rest of the way.

“It’s no secret,” Bernie coach Jason Long said. “We struggle scoring, so we try to limit our margin for error, and one way of doing that is by not giving up second shots.”

Long actually was pleased with the rebounding effort of his team, as compared to the Christmas Tournament defeat.

“We did a lot better job of rebounding,” Long said. “We did a better job tonight of blocking out, rebounding, and being strong in that regard.”

Wildcat junior Caleb Upchurch paced his team with 17 points while senior center Lucas Dowdy added 14 points.

The Mules got five 3-pointers and 15 points out of junior shooter Taven Owens while senior guard Jayden Robinette added 13 points.

“These kids have never played (on the winner’s side of the bracket),” Sindle said. “They played JV last year, and if they played varsity, they played on the losing side of the bracket.

“They get to enjoy this and get to be on the winning side. It’s awesome.”

Bloomfield moves on to play top-seed Puxico (14-1) on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Bernie (6-7) will face Advance (2-14) in a consolation semifinal today at 7 p.m.