Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament: Charleston speeds up Leopold in lopsided victory

Leopold coach Corey Brownsberger got his first taste of facing Charleston and coach Danny Farmer on Friday evening at the Show Me Center.

Although Brownsberger's 12th-seeded Wildcats were handed an 88-33 loss in their first-round game against the No. 5 Bluejays in the Southeast Missourian Christmas tournament, the first-year coach got a glimpse at what he hopes he can eventually create at Leopold.

"Coach Farmer does a great job and he's been there for years, and they play Charleston basketball," Brownsberger said. "That's something that we've tried to talk about. We want to play Leopold basketball. We want to make that mean something."

The Wildcats looked a long way from making that happen against the Bluejays.

Charleston opened the game on a 14-2 run. Leopold trimmed it to 20-10 by the end of the first quarter with a basket by Cord Cooper and a couple 3-pointers by Blake Eeftink.

"We came out slow in the beginning and I wasn't pleased," Farmer said. "After half we picked it up, and I think the result of the game is what I expected it to be."

The Wildcats pulled within nine points twice early in the second quarter, but Charleston held a 42-17 advantage at the break.

The Bluejays erupted for 33 points in the third quarter to eliminate any hope of a comeback upset for Leopold.

Star senior guard Delfincko Bogan scored 23 of his game-high 33 points in the third quarter and freshman guard Demarcus Sharp scored the other 10. He finished with 19.

Bogan knocked down three of his five 3-pointers in the decisive third quarter, but most of his and Sharp's points came on steals, including several on inbounds passes with their press that gave the Wildcats fits.

"We needed to put pressure on them," Farmer said. "We're the quickest team and we needed to double team and make them make decisions, keep the pressure on and push the ball up and down the court."

The Bluejays finally got the pace they wanted in the third and took a 75-29 lead into the final eight minutes, which was played with a running clock.

Leopold's John Gray loses control of the ball between Charleston's Mardareyon Clark, left, and Tyler Craig during the second quarter of a first-round game in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament Friday, Dec. 26, 2014 at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

"From Day 1 when we started getting ready for this team, [we said], 'We've got to play at our pace. We can't come out and just because they're up in us, trying to speed us up [play at a faster pace],'" Brownsberger said. "I told Zach Elfrink, 'When you play at Zach's pace, you're really, really good. When you try to play at Delfincko's pace, you're not as good.' You saw at times in this game. When he played at Zach's pace, he played really, really well. That's the main thing I tried to get across. Play at our pace, worry about us and what we're going to do and not so much what the other team's going to do."

Elfrink led the Wildcats with 12 points.

Brownsberger was pleased with his team's play at moments in the game, but knew that they were overmatched against the Bluejays.

"Our mantra is energy, attitude and effort, and I never wanted them to get away from that and they haven't," Brownsberger said. "I've been so happy and proud of the fact that these kids battle night in and night out when everybody says we're not going to be any good. We're taking steps, and that is something I think we can take away from it."

Leopold will face Kelly at 9 a.m. Saturday while Charleston will take on Scott County Central at 9 p.m.

(12) Leopold 10 7 12 4 -- 33

(5) Charleston 20 22 33 13 -- 88

LEOPOLD (33) -- Garrett Thele 2, Zach Elfrink 12, Blake Eeftink 8, Cord Cooper 4, John Gray 4, Matt Ford 3. FG 13, FT 5-6, F 9 (3-pointers: Blake Eeftink 2. Fouled out: none.)

CHARLESTON (88) -- Jaquavous Rodgers 2, Dontarius Sharp 2, Delfincko Bogan 33, Deonte Clemons 3, Demarcus Sharp 19, Mardareyon Clark 8, Jeremy Tucker 6, Tenerrious Ewing 6, Tyler Craig 9. FG 38, FT 7-12, F 11 (3-pointers: Bogan 5. Fouled out: none.)