Tri-County Conference Tournament: Southland beats Cooter, Clarkton outlasts Delta C-7

Southland vs Cooter

CARDWELL, Mo. - The Southland Rebels came into the Tri-County Tournament seeded sixth to face the No. 3 seeded Cooter Wildcats.

Both teams struggled to finish plays in the first period, with both teams missing several layups and easy opportunities to score. With 3:15 left in the first period, the score was knotted at 9.

Jayden Mclevain and Lance Lucy scored the last two buckets for Cooter. They finished the period ahead 13-9. That was the last time Cooter would have the lead in the game.

The 2nd half was all the Southland Rebels. Trace Gibson, the senior center for the Rebels, took the bull by the horns and scored the first seven points of the third period to extend the lead to 29-21.

Gibson and Camden Washington put on an NBA clinic in the second half, combining for 33 points. Gibson had 14 points while Washington scored 19.

Cooter was held to five points in the third period on only two buckets and was outscored 20-5. The lead was 42-26 and the rout was on.

Mclevain hit three three-pointers in the fourth quarter to try to keep Cooter close, but it was not enough as Gibson and Washington combined for 19 in the last period. Gibson would finish with 20 points and Washington with a game-high 25 points making 6 three-pointers. The final was 62-41.

Southland will face the Gideon Bulldogs in the second semi-final game Tuesday night. It is slated to start around 8:30 p.m.

Clarkton vs Delta C-7

Despite both teams entering the tournament with sub-.500 records, Delta C-7 and Clarkton had done fairly well in conference play during the season.

They earned the fourth and fifth seeds in the Tri-County bracket.

This game was a case where both teams were evenly matched and a tight up-and-down affair occurred where the lead changed hands several times. The final outcome was close.

Clarkton was bigger on the interior with three big men. Alexandro Juarez, James Johnson and Kaleb Hunter did all of the scoring for Clarkton in the first quarter.

The height advantage rocketed Clarkton to a first-period lead of 18-10.

Clarkton held DeltaC-7 to only one bucket in the second period, a three-pointer by junior Carlos (C.J.) Wallace. The Chargers ended up being outscored by Clarkton in that period 8-3. This opened a 26-13 lead for the Reindeer at the half.

In the second half, Delta C-7 began to get contributions from a couple of other players, such as Muhammed Khan and Micah Rose.

Both had struggled in the first half, only scoring two points combined, but poured in 14 total points.

Hunter, who had been such a dominant force in the first quarter for Clarkton, had only scored five points through the second and third periods. He dropped in the first bucket of the fourth period to give the Clarkton Reindeer their biggest lead of the game at 40-27. Immediately after the bucket, head coach Chris Dye of the Chargers called a desperate timeout to try and stop the bleeding.

Hunter Rose for the Chargers came out and nailed back to back to back three-pointers along with three more from Micah Rose and Wallace to go on a 14-2 run. This helped them take their first lead of the game at 41-40.

Head coach Cole McBroom for Clarkton, immediately called a timeout to try to get the momentum back.

"I told them they had to get back into the paint and dominate with their rotations like they did in the first half,” McBroom said.

After the timeout, they immediately went on a 7-0 run and took back a 47-41 lead. They swapped the last 16 points of the game 8-8 to pull out the victory 55-49.

The big three for Clarkton finished with 46 of their 55 points. Hunter finished with 22, Caleb Redden with 14 and Johnson with 10.

Micah Rose for Delta C-7 finished with 17 with Wallace pouring in 16 and Hunter Ward ending up with 9. Clarkton now has the daunting task of facing the No. 1 seeded Risco Tigers. This is to be played on Tuesday, Feb. 11 starting around 7 p.m.