Caruthersville upsets Portageville in the Bootheel Conference Tournament semifinals

Staff photo by Aaron Lynn Caruthersville's Claude Taylor goes for a shot in the paint against Portageville's Fernando Minnis. [Click to enlarge]

SENATH, Mo- The No. 3 seed Caruthersville Tigers advanced to the championship game of the Bootheel Conference Tournament with a 80-62 win over the No. 2 seed Portageville Bulldogs Thursday night. It was a game that was nip and tuck and a lot closer than the final score would indicate.

Both teams struggled offensively in the opening minutes of the game as defense was a big factor. Caruthersville got two turnovers in the first two minutes that they were unable to convert to points. At the five minute mark of the first quarter Vohland Fonda found Perry Middleton on the left side to knock down a 3-pointer and Claude Taylor had a put-in on an offensive rebound to give the Tigers a 6-2 lead. After Portageville made a couple of free throws, Taylor got two more points underneath. The Bulldogs tied it up with 44 seconds left in the quarter when Jake Young sank a pair of free throws, but Caruthersville answered back with Taylor getting two in the paint to end the quarter and put the Tigers back ahead 12-10.

Portageville took their first lead since the opening basket when Fernando Minnis stole the ball and found Dominique Walker for a basket to give the Bulldogs a two-point advantage. However, Vohland Fonda gave Caruthersville the lead right back by knocking down a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The two teams matched baskets on their next possession's until Caruthersville's Seth Littrel stole the ball and found Vohland Fonda down the court for a lay-up then Caleb Moss hit a 3 in the corner to open up a six-point lead for the Tigers. Portageville pulled back to within two at 3:46 left in the half when Walker made a 15-footer.

After a timeout, Portageville's Tevin Walker got a steal and put in two on a fast break to tie the game at 25-25. On their next possession, after a Caruthersville basket, the Bulldogs took a 28-27 lead when Tevin Walker nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:48 left. The Tigers pulled back though and took a three-point lead into the half when Littrell had a put-back on an offensive rebound with 40 seconds left.

"I thought Littrell and Taylor played outstanding," Caruthersville coach David Heeb said. "They rebounded the ball, controlled the paint and just played outstanding. We've got to have that going forward."

Taylor and Littrel both dominated the boards on offense and defense in the first half along with creating some turnovers to give Caruthersville second chances.

"Me and Seth work together as teammates," Taylor said. "I help him and he helps me. Portageville has a hard defense, I've got to give it to them. They have a hard nose defense. I had to work real hard under there but, I fed my big man the ball (Littrell) and he got me the ball and we did good."

After the break, Portageville took the lead back at the six-minute mark when Fred Treadwell stole the ball and Minnis converted it to two points in the paint (34-33). The Tigers regained the lead on a David Shaw 3 and started to open it up over the next few minutes until Portageville called a timeout with four minutes left in the third after Shaw got a lay-up to stretch the lead to 44-35.

"Defensively, I thought we played better. We did a better job of keeping the ball in front of us but, it took a little bit out of our offense and we were slower than we wanted to be. At halftime I talked to them about playing that kind of defense but, don't stop running," Heeb said.

The Bulldogs pulled back to within three points with 1:28 left in the third but on Caruthersville's next possession Moss hit another 3 from the corner to push the lead back to 49-43.

The Bulldogs and their fans got a big charge, though, when Walker got free on a breakaway and pulled off a dunk bring them back to within four-points at 49-45 with 30 seconds left in the quarter. The Tigers would get three more points to head into the final quarter with a 52-45 advantage.

In the fourth quarter's opening minutes Vohland Fonda started to penetrate Portageville's defense for baskets and found Moss who was also able to drive into the lane for a basket to stretch Caruthersville's lead to 60-49.

"Vohland is a good player. I love how he plays. He knows how to drive the ball and handle it real good. He really takes it to them," Taylor said.

The Bulldogs kept fighting but, the Tigers had an answer after every Portageville basket and continued to inch away on the scoreboard.

"I thought the biggest thing was that we've been in a lot of games this year where it's close in the fourth quarter and a lot of times in that situation we've beaten ourselves at the end of the game," Heeb said. "Tonight we ran our offense, got the rebounds when we had to and made our free throws. We did the two or three things you've got to do to win at the end of a close game. I tease them all the time about having to get smarter. Well, I told them tonight must be proof that we've gotten a lot smarter. Every shot we took at the end was a good shot."

After the Caruthersville pushed the lead to 13 points with 2:31 left, the Bulldogs cut it back to eight points in the span of three seconds on a pair of three-point plays. However, it wouldn't be enough as Caruthersville used their speed and defensive pressure to put the higher seeded Portageville away.

"They've got the best coach in the state," Heeb said. "Coach (Jim) Bidewell is a good friend and I've got the utmost respect for him. His kids are always going to play hard and anytime you can beat them, that's a feather in your cap."

Caruthersville had four players reach double digits in scoring. Vohland Fonda led all with 20 points. Taylor put in 18 points while Shaw tossed in 17. Elbie Fonda finished with 10 points.

Portageville also had four players get into double digits. Dominique Walker led with 14 points. Tevin Walker put 13 on the board. Treadwell had 11 and Young finished with 10.

Caruthersville will advance to the Bootheel Conference Championship game where they will take on the top seeded Kennett Indians on Friday night at the Senath-Hornersville gym.

"They're a real good team and we've got a lot of respect for them, but we've been looking forward to this one since December." Heeb said.