Cooter uses uptempo gameplan to down Hornets

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Holcomb's Heath Murdock (right) shoots over a Cooter defender during the second half of Friday's Tri-County Conference basketball game at Cooter. Murdock had a game-high 26 points, but Holcomb lost 71-49 to fall to 1-4 on the season. [Click to enlarge]

COOTER, Mo. -- Some people call it run and gun. Others call it fastbreak basketball. The Cooter Wildcats call it a recipe for success.

The Wildcats used their fast brand of basketball to force 22 turnovers and take control of the game with an 18-6 second-quarter outburst in a 71-49 win over the Holcomb Hornets here Friday night.

"We're really trying to push the basketball," Cooter coach Delane Beckwith said. "We want to push it and get good looks. We want to get good shots."

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Holcomb's Chad Adams (left) drives against a Cooter defender during Friday's Tri-County Conference basketball game at Cooter. [Click to enlarge]

In other area basketball games, Clarkton downed Senath-Hornersville 88-55 and Scott County Central rolled past Gideon 113-59.

At Cooter, the Wildcats (3-2, 2-0 Tri-County Conference) led just 16-12 entering the second quarter, but held Holcomb (1-4, 0-1) without a field goal for the period's first 5:03 and got several transition baskets during the quarter to take a 16-point lead to the break.

"We didn't do a real good job of getting back," Holcomb coach Seth McBroom said. "We're going to fix that Monday. We're gaining experience with every game and it's going to come with experience. We've just got to keep getting better."

Cooter also got a strong game from junior Aaron McCaig, who scored a team-high 21 points and seemed to spark the team at times.

"McCaig's been playing pretty well for us," said Beckwith. "He's (playing) really well on defense and gets some good steals along with the rest of the team. We've been playing pretty good team basketball with balanced scoring."

However, the Hornets rallied in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 45-36 on Heath Murdock's basket with 2:07 left in the stanza.

Murdock had a dominant night Friday, racking up 26 of Holcomb's 49 points to lead all scorers.

"(He's a) hard worker. He's done a lot for us this year. We want to attack the rim and he's our workhorse."

In the end though, the Wildcats regrouped and pulled away in the final period, pushing the lead to 20 points (57-37) on Aaron Brown's basket with 5:17 left in the contest.

Despite the loss, McBroom was pleased with his squad's effort.

"I'm proud of the kids' effort," McBroom said. "They played hard."

Charles Copeland and Nathan Poe each added 11 points to join McCaig in double figures for Cooter, while Brown tossed in 10.

Chad Adams added 12 points for the Hornets, who kick off play in the Clarkton Holiday Tournament Tuesday against Richland before facing the host team Thursday.

"There are some really good teams in it," said McBroom. "If you can't get up for the Clarkton tournament, you need to check your heartbeat."

Notes: Holcomb won a thriller of a junior varsity contest in overtime. ... Poe has dominated in rebounding and blocked shots this season, averaging a double-double according to Beckwith. ... This is not the first time McBroom and Beckwith have faced each other. McBroom was a played at Twin Rivers High School in Butler County in 2000-2001 when Beckwith coached at Naylor.

Scott Co. Central 113, Gideon 59
At Sikeston, the Braves rolled on to their fifth win of the season Friday night in a rout of the visiting Bulldogs.

Using their daunting full-court press, Scott Central (5-1) took advantage of Gideon's mishaps to create easy baskets for themselves.

SCC had four players in double figures. Both Drew Thomas and Caleb Johnson scored 24 points a piece, and they also pulled down 12 rebounds a piece. D.D. Gillespie added 16 points with two 3-pointers. Randy Timmons chipped in with 11 points and 11 rebounds of his own.

Jordan Boone led the Bulldogs (2-3) with 18 points, with 12 of those coming from behind the arc on four 3-pointers. Travis Miller added 14, while Jake DeProw had 13 and was 3-3 from the free-throw line. Jarred Foster also added to the total with 10.

At the end of the first quarter, the Braves were ahead by 26 points after a 3-pointer at the buzzer by D.D. Gillespie to put the Braves up 32-6. Caleb Johnson finished the first half with 18 points to help the Braves to a 62-26 lead going into half-time.

SCC won the junior varsity game 77-27.

Andrew Powell of the SEMO News Service provided information for this story.