Indians and Rebels struggle in tourney's opening round

By DONN ADAMSON
Daily Journal Sports Editor

ARCADIA — While most all high school basketball teams were silent on the first possible game day of the 2008 season, the Arcadia Valley gymnasium was rocking as they held the opening round of their 82nd Thanksgiving Tournament on Monday.

The evening had few surprises as all of the top seeds in the three games came out victorious by substantial margins. The two MAAA teams, Bismarck Indians and Central Rebels, were both victims of a first-day loss, joining the Ellington Whippets in the consolation bracket. Ellington lost to Clearwater in Monday’s middle game, 69-53.

Lesterville 82, Central 68

In the last game of the evening, the No. 7 seed Central Rebels hung tough with the No. 2 Lesterville Bearcats, for one half, but the Rebels could not answer the three-point shooting of the Bearcats and they trailed quickly in the second half to finally fall by  a score of 81-68.

Lesterville utilized a full-court press to force three Central turnovers and convert them quickly into a 6-2 lead. Three-pointers by Travis Cook and Slade Nichols paced the Bearcats to a 21-19 first quarter score. The two guards combined for nine threes in the game, with six coming in the second half.  

Despite being outsized the  Rebels were able to get the ball inside to Zac Cunningham, who scored five baskets inside the paint in the first quarter. Cody Allen was able to drive the baseline time and time again to come up with 11 points for the Rebels before the half. Allen’s attacking the basket gave him Central’s top scoring of 22 points.

Cunningham tied the score at 21-21 with the first shot of the second quarter and the two teams matched basket for basket with six ties occurring before Cook hit a three with 30 seconds left in the half to give the Bearcats a 35-34 lead. The score would stand as both teams squandered chances to score with rushed turnovers in the final seconds.

Nichols swished two three-pointers to start the third quarter, and the Bearcats would not be caught again. A conventional three by John Roberts gave Lesterville a nine-point lead late in the quarter, and Central went to the full-court press to try and reduce the margin so the game would not get away from them.

An early surge of scoring put the Bearcats up by 12, but Preston Harlow nailed a three-pointer for the Rebels and then turned quickly to steal the inbound pass to feed Allen for another two, and the Rebels cut the lead to seven.

The Bearcats were able to break Central’s press in the final minutes for easy baskets in transition, and two three pointers sealed the game with the last one coming at the buzzer to make it a 13-point win.

Lesterville will play Clearwater in the second semi-final on Wednesday, and Central will play Ellington at 7:30 this evening.

Central  19 15 13 21 - 68

Lesterville  21 14 20 26 - 81

Scoring:

Central - Allen 22, Cunningham 20, Harlow 10, Martin 6, J Jones 6, Jones 4.

3-pointers - Harlow 3.

Lesterville - Nichols 23, Petty 23, Roberts 14, Cook 11, Kelley 10.  

3-pointers - Nichols 6, Cook 3, Kelley. 

South Iron 76, Bismarck 12

The Indians No. 8 seed draw pitted them against the No. 1 seed South Iron Panthers in the tournament’s opener, and it wasn’t pretty as South Iron jumped out to the early lead and took off to a 76-12 show of domination, giving notice to the rest of the tourney’s teams that they rightly deserved the top seed.

Bismarck struggled against South Iron’s defense, committing  a total of 34 turnovers, which limited their chances of scoring points. The Indians took a total of 24 shots in the game, connecting on only four and also making 4-8 at the free throw line.

Jeff Jarvis led the Indians in scoring with three points, and Cody Goodson led in rebounds with five.

The Panthers leaped into the lead on the three-point shooting of Cody Smith and the inside play of Justin Ford that made it a 15-2 ball game with three minutes left in the first quarter. Will Sutton received a roar of approval from the Panthers fans early in the second quarter when he jammed one home.

Sutton finished with 12 points and six rebounds in the game, second to only Ford with 17 points and nine boards. Jared Middleton made five steals for the Panthers.

South Iron will play next on Wednesday in the first semi-final game against the winner of tonight’s game between Arcadia Valley and West County, and Bismarck will play the loser of that same game on Wednesday. 

Bismarck  3 4 1 4 - 12

South Iron  26 19 19 12 - 76

Scoring:

Bismarck - Jarvis 3, Wild 2, McClain 2, Goodson 2, Wakefield 2, Politte 1.

3-pointers - None

South Iron - Ford 17, W Sutton 12, Smith 11, Scaggs 10, Middleton 9, J Sutton 4, Hampton 4, Cornell 4, Bond 3, Alcorn 2.

3-pointers - Smith 3, Bond.