Mineral Area drops two games to Three Rivers

By DONN ADAMSON/Daily Journal Sports Editor

POPLAR BLUFF - The Mineral Area Lady Cardinals lost their game, 86-71, to the Three Rivers Lady Raiders which preceded the men's game. The Cardinals scored as many points as the Lady Cardinals, and the result was the same with the Cardinals losing 81-71 to the Raiders.

The Mineral Area Cardinals had a hard time finding their shooting eye at the start of their game against the Three Rivers Raiders.

The Cardinals played the first four minutes of the game without a point. A lay-up by Foster gave the Cardinals their first points, but the Raiders had already built a lead that continued until they were up 14-5. MAC made nine turnovers in the first six minutes of play, and fouls were plenty as both teams were in the bonus before the first half of the first half had been played.

The fouls were a help for the Cardinals as the Raiders consistently missed their free throws, allowing Mineral Area to crawl back into the game. Kenny Burke hit a 22-footer to close the score to 23-19, their Cardinals first of six attempts at three-pointers.

Ryan Burne tied the score at 23-23 with four minutes left in the half, and on the Cardinals next possession Burne would give MAC a 26-25 lead with a three pointer.

Both teams battled out the last two minutes with Three Rivers gaining the edge at the break, 31-30.

The Raiders came out on fire, hitting a three, and then quickly climbing to an 11 point lead at 42-31. The Raiders lead would be extended to 14 points as their shooting heated up and the Cardinals defense went into a lull.

The Cardinals kept working on decreasing the Raiders' lead. T.J. Britton hit a three to take it down to eight points at 60-52, but the Raiders answered to take the lead back into double digits again.

The Raiders lead would shrink to seven after Burne hit a pair of free throws to make it 63-56 with eight minutes left in the game. The Raiders staved off MAC's challenge and quickly jumped back to an 11 point lead. De Alan Hicks hit a three to once again make it a seven-point game, but with only three minutes left.

Curtis Muse made it a four-point game with a put-back with 1:20 on the clock. After a Three Rivers time-out, the Raiders made it eight points via a turn-over by the Cardinals, and the Cardinals began to foul. The tactic did not work due to the Cardinals being unable to connect on their end of the floor.

The Raiders moved back out to a 10-point edge which remained to the end of the game.

Burne led the Cardinals in scoring with a season high 27 points. Burke had nine, Tremaine Wilkerson and Muse scored seven, Britton and Ray Peterson had five, Matt Foster had four and Jonathon Jackson scored two points.

The Cardinals will be back at it today at 6 p.m. against John Wood College in a Shoot-out at Lewis & Clark College. The Lady Cardinals will play next on Wednesday at Florissant Valley.