Third place is little consolation for Cubs

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- If it were up to Bell City coach David Heeb, his team would be back in Bell City today, thinking about next season.

After the Cubs fell 65-50 to Jefferson on Thursday in the Class 1 state semifinals at Mizzou Arena, Heeb expressed his displeasure for the current MSHSAA setup which has his Cubs playing St. Elizabeth in the third-place game today at 9 a.m.

"Personally, I wish they didn't play the third-place game. It's a waste of time," Heeb said. "But we still want to win it."

While the pain of Thursday's loss was evident in the expressions of Heeb and Bell City's players, the defending state champions have plenty to be optimistic about. A second straight Class 1 title and third in four years may not be in the cards for the Cubs, but with only one senior on the roster, there should be plenty more final four appearances in Bell City's future.

"We're talking about next year," Heeb said. "We didn't come here to play for third place."

Despite a poor overall performance from the Cubs, Bell City did get a mighty performance from Jeff Liggins. The junior led Bell City with 14 points and had a game-high 12 rebounds. In the first half, Liggins had eight rebounds as Bell City went into the half ahead 27-24.

"Jeffrey just carried us today. He's done that all year. He doesn't get enough credit," Heeb said. "He's a warrior and he played like that today. I wish he would have had more help on the boards."

Along with Liggins, the Cubs return junior starters Kerry Lasters, Blaine Stewart and Garrett McIntyre. Bell City also will have freshmen D.D. Gillespie, Nick Niemczyk, Phillip Gross and Marty Dames back, along with sophomore Austin Segers.

Jefferson has only one senior of its own and could be a team for the Cubs to contend with in the future.

"I'd like another crack at them," Heeb said.