Clarkton takes revenge on Risco, atones for holiday tourney loss

RISCO, Mo. -- Tuesday night in Risco it became official. A rivalry has been born in the Tri County Conference.

Still seething over the stunning loss to Risco in the finals of the Clarkton Holiday Tournament, the Clarkton Reindeer traveled to Risco Tuesday night with revenge on their minds. When the night was over, the 'Deer had their revenge with a 95-75 victory over the Tigers.

Things didn't start well for Clarkton though as Risco picked up right where it left off with strong interior play from Zack Williams in the first quarter. Williams proved to be a matchup nightmare all night for Clarkton as he led all scorers on the night with 32 points. As the quarter wound down, the Tigers had their own huge crowd in a frenzy as they jumped out to the 18-13 first quarter lead.

Risco remained in control in the early part of the second quarter when two things changed the entire complexion of the game.

First, the Tigers lost sight of Justin Brown. As Brown cut down the middle of the lane, point guard Jordan Jones hit him with the bounce pass to set him up for the one-handed dunk. The other factor in the swing of momentum was the decision by Reindeer coach Scottie Blackburn to change defenses to a halfcourt trap.

"We threw that out there and it worked pretty well," Blackburn said. "But I'm sure they will work on beating the half court trap before we play them again so we will have to change it up next time."

The Reindeer led 42-36 at the half.

Coming out of the locker rooms the teams played to a 23-23 tie in the third quarter as the Clarkton lead was 65-59 heading into the final period.

However, as they have done so many times before, Clarkton's backcourt took over down the stretch as they dominated the final period by outscoring Risco 30-16 to pull away.

After the loss, Risco head coach Brandon Blankenship touched on the subject.

"We felt pretty good at halftime," Blankenship said. "We talked about their halfcourt trap and how to beat it, but just didn't make the adjustments we needed to. On top of that they just really owned the fourth quarter."

The Reindeer showed solid balance on offense as finished players finished in double figures. Brown's 25 points led the attack while fellow senior Dustin Ferguson finished with 22.

"I really think our season is headed back in the right direction. It's always good to get revenge." Ferguson said after the game.

Freshman Mikey Jones also came up big for Clarkton with 19 points off the bench.

"I told the guys to pick Mikey up in practice," said Blackburn. "His confidence has been kinda down lately, but he stepped up big time for us tonight and had a nice game."

Williams put together one of the better games of the year in the losing effort finishing with 32 points to lead the Tigers. He was joined in double figures by Brandon Bennett with 13 points and Dillon Hill with 12.

Notes: It is a strong possibility that Tuesday will not be the last time these two teams will meet as they are both serious contenders for both the Tri-County Conference and Class 1, District 1 Tournament crowns. … Before the game, the Tigers ran through a banner reading "2008 Christmas Tournament Champs," a reminder of the last meeting between the two squads.