Risco Tigers and Southland Rebels set for rematch in Class 1 District 1 Championship

GIDEON, Mo. - The Class 1 District 1 semifinal games were set at Gideon High School, home of the Bulldogs and the No. 2 seed.

The final four teams remaining, all members of the Tri-County Conference, were fighting for a spot at the district championship game and a chance to keep their seasons alive. However, only two teams emerged victorious.

No. 1 seeded Risco survived and advanced against the Cooter Wildcat with a 79-63 victory. Along with Risco, the Southland Rebel pulled off an upset against the hosting Bulldogs to make their first district championship appearance since 2016.

According to Southland’s head coach Tyre Washington, this win marks only the second time in school history the Rebels have advanced to the district finals.

“I’m so happy for the city of Cardwell,” Washington said. “I’m happy for the players and our coaching staff, but for this community in general. We set out to get 10 wins when we started the year, and we have far exceeded that. That just goes to show what we are capable of with the support Cardwell has shown us.”

The Rebel’s 17-11 record is the best showing from Southland’s boys basketball program since 2016 when they were 17-10.

On the other hand, the Risco Tigers have been waiting to get back to the district championship for 367 days. Last year, they got knocked out on Feb. 24 by Richland in the Class 1 District 2 finals, cutting their season short of a run at the Class 1 State tournament.

Since then, it has been all gas for the Tigers in a season where they have only experienced two losses compared to 25 wins. For head coach Brandon Blankenship and his players, all of their regular season glory, all the prep in the weight room and on the gym floor in practice, were just geared towards getting back to this moment.

“These guys have had a great year, and I am so proud of them,” Blankenship said. “I’m so proud of the hard work they have been putting in all year, even back to the summer, that’s really when this entire journey started. And now they are right where they wanted to be, back where they have prepared to be all year. Now we just gotta go out and do it when the lights are on, people in the stands and referees on the floor. This entire season has been prepping us for those 32 minutes on Friday night.”

After receiving a first-round BYE, the Tigers had the advantage of fresh legs. They quickly gained a 10-point lead over Cooter in the first quarter, then limited the Wildcats to only nine points in the second quarter. This brought the score to 44-24 at half time.

With a 20-point cushion, the game belonged to the Class 1-ranked Risco team. However, a hot-shooting Cooter team was ready to challenge this lead.

The Wildcats came out and outscored Risco in both second-half quarters, knocking down six three-pointers to reel the Tigers back in.

The charge was led by Cooter junior Ryce Lynn and Jayden Stewart-(Mathis). Lynn would finish the game with 19 points, 15 of which came from three-point range. He scored five field-goals from beyond the arc.

Meanwhile, Mathis got hot in the second half after only scoring three points in the first half. He became Cooter’s go-to guy in the third and fourth quarters, scoring 14 points after the half-time break and finishing with 17 total points.

However, their work and deep ball shooting would not deter the determined Tigers.

“We knew Cooter wasn’t going to quit, and they turned up the intensity on us,” Blankenship said. “We were on our heels a little bit. Obviously, we want to close out a game better than how we did, and we know at this time of year, everyone is going to give you their 100% best. It’s cliche, but it is survive and advance. There are some things we didn’t do well in that second half, but we can’t dwell on that. We were able to survive, so we have to get ready for the next one.”

The top scorers of Owen Fortner and Sammy Smith were big factors in their survival against Cooter, as they both closed out the game with 27 total points. Combined, they scored 54 of Risco’s 79 points. Eli Rodgers would also contribute 10 points to the Tigers' total.

Following this game was a Tri-County rivalry between Gideon and Southland. With the close seeding, as Gideon was No. 2 and Southland No. 3, this game could have gone either way. These two team also split their matchups this season, as they were 1-1 against each other.

Gideon, however, was looking for redemption after being knocked out by the Rebels in the Tri-County Conference tournament.

Yet, Southland’s Knoah Beal would strike the first punch. He drove through the defenders straight to the basket to score an acrobatic layup and give the Rebels a lead they never lost.

Five minutes would pass through the first quarter before Gideon could respond. By the time they scored their first basket, Southland already had an 11-point lead.

This was due to Braylan Cox, who scored nine of Southlands 15 points in the opening quarter. In Comparison, the Bulldogs were held to only five points, all of which were scored by Landon Weaver.

This lead continued to grow in the second quarter behind the hot hands of Jeremiah McMinn and Camden Washington, who combined for four back-to-back three-pointers. Defensively, they once again limited Gideon to single digits in the second quarter. As they had a 23-point run, the Bulldogs only scored nine. This brought the half-time score to 38-14.

A big move was locking in on Gideon’s top scorer, Drake Montgomery. According to Tyre Washington, they decided to stick their best defender on Montgomery. This assignment was handed to Cox, who held Montgomery scoreless in the first half.

“I think he’s the best defender in the conference,” Tyre Washington said. “He asked for the assignment of guardian Montgomery last time we faced them, so I gave it to him this game and he did pretty well.”

Cox also loaded up the first half with 14 points, leading the Rebels to a 24-point lead.

The Bulldogs would mount a comeback in the second half, outscoring the Rebels 47-37.

Montgomery would come back and score 15 points in the second half while Hayden Lacewell led the Bulldogs’ effort with 16 total points.

Landon Weaver also finished with 14 points and Jacob Plunkett scored 11 points to help climb the deficit.

However, their efforts were neutralized as Camden Washington and Colton Lee continued to stay hot from deep.

Lee, a freshman, knocked down three from deep in the third quarter en route to scoring 10 points for the Rebels.

McMinn and Cox were also huge contributors as McMinn finished with 14 points and Cox scored 16 total points.

Then, there was Camden Washington.

Coming off the bench, Camden Washington would lead Southland with a game-high 19 points, knocking down five three-pointers. He said his motivation came after not making a single three-pointer in the first round against Delta C-7.

“That was the first time I didn’t make a single three in a game,” Camden Washington said. “So I knew tonight I was due for something special. We were able to prove, just like March Madness, really anything can happen. Now we are ready to face the No. 1 seed, and we are coming for RIsco.

The Rebels will face the Tigers on Friday, Feb. 28, in a Tri-County Championship rematch. After losing to the Tigers by just eight points for the Tri-County Champion title, the Rebels are eager to continue their revenge tour.

For Blankenship, his team is ready to redeem themselves from last season. According to him, no matter which team would have won between Gideon and Southland, the goal is still the same. Win a District title.

“Both teams have good players and they have good coaches,” Blankenship said. “We don’t want to change anything, we just have to double down on who we are and what we do.”