Clarkton downs Hornets to advance to semifinals

RISCO, Mo. -- The Clarkton Reindeer began their quest of defending their Tri-County Conference Tournament crown Tuesday night as they traveled to Risco to take on the Holcomb Hornets for the second time this season. In a game of runs, it was the Reindeer who were once again victorious as they came away with the 69-59 win.

In the early going Casey Redden picked up where he left off last week against Campbell as his high-energy play on both ends of the floor gave Clarkton the early edge. The Reindeer were able to get out in transition after several steals and pick up numerous fastbreak points.

Clarkton used a number of different defenses to confuse the Hornets including their patented half court trap.

"We looked really bad against their halfcourt trap tonight," Holcomb coach Seth McBroom said afterwards. "I was disappointed because I thought we were better prepared than that."

The Reindeer cleaned the glass in the second period with five offensive rebounds as they stretched their halftime lead to nine.

In the first half of play, the Hornets did an outstanding job of shutting down the Reindeers' outside game as they kept them from hitting a single 3-pointer.

However shortly after the break, Dustin Ferguson went off. Ferguson knocked down 3-pointers in three consecutive trips down the floor and slashed through the lane for a pair of layups on his way to killing a Holcomb rally.

With the exception of a Redden technical foul, the contest went pretty much as expected down the stretch as Clarkton's guards knocked down their free throws to seal the win.

Ferguson led all scorers on the night with 26 points.

On the other side, two Hornets finished in double figures as Chad Adams had 17 points and Shane McElwrath chipped in 12.

With the victory, Clarkton earned itself a rematch with second-seed Cooter in the semifinals Thursday night.