COOTER, Mo. -- In a game that many expected to be an evenly matched contest, the second-seeded Gideon Bulldogs simply dominated the No. 3 seed Campbell Camels in nearly every facet of the game in a 71-59 victory in the semifinals of the Tri-County Conference Tournament here Thursday night.

With the win, the Bulldogs earned a spot in the finals against their bitter rivals, the heavily-favored Clarkton Reindeer, who defeated Risco 92-64 in the early semifinal Thursday.

The game was tight for most of the opening quarter as both offenses struggled out of the gate as Camels ended the period with an 11-10 advantage.

However, the Gideon offense exploded in the second quarter by scoring 25 points in the period, thanks in large part to a strong effort from the free throw line, and the efforts of Tri-County Conference Player of the Year candidate Jordan Boone.

Boone scored 10 of his game-high 27 points on the night in the second quarter.

"It's great to have a guy like Jordan on your team," said Gideon head coach Daniel Sexton. "He's just been an awesome player for us. Every time Campbell looked to be making a run at us he would step up and hit a big shot."

Junior Jacob Deprow stepped up big by coming off the bench to add nine points to the second period effort as the 'Dogs took a commanding 35-20 lead into the locker room.

As play resumed, the Camels' Andrew Pearson, who was held scoreless in the first half stepped up big for Campbell by scoring nine points in the period.

However Boone was not to be outdone as he continued to be outstanding by scoring both inside and out to kill any potential Campbell run.

Often times overlooked because of the play of Boone, Gideon has one of the most underrated players in the Bootheel running its offense in point guard Travis Miller. Miller put the nail in the Campbell coffin in the final quarter by knocking down a pair of 3-pointers.

"Travis is the motor that runs our team," Sexton said. "When he comes off the floor you can really notice a difference in our team. Everything goes better when he's running our offense."

Boone was joined in double figures for the Bulldogs by Miller and Deprow with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Jordan Baggett paced the Camels with 18 points in the losing effort.

After the Reindeer's dismantling of the Risco Tigers earlier in the night, the finals look to be very interesting with more than just a conference championship on the line. The game will feature the two front-runners for TCC Player of the Year in Clarkton's Dustin Ferguson and Boone.

Clarkton 92, Risco 64
In the early semifinal, the Tigers (8-14) fell to the top-seeded Reindeer.

The Reindeer made nine 3-pointers in the first half to put away the Tigers early, making it a 67-28 lead at the break.

Clarkton made a total of 11 3-pointers throughout the game.

Kyle White led the Tigers with 20 points, and made Risco's only two 3s. Chris Williams added 16 points and Tim Huskisson finished with 10.

Clarkton was led by Dustin Ferguson's 20 points. Casey Redden and Devaris Parker each had 19 points apiece. Redden connected for five treys, while Parker made three and Ferguson made one.

The SEMO News Service provided some of the information for this story.