Bulldogs Come Up Short Against Mules

Thursday, March 6, 2014

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - Despite coming into the Class 2, District 1 semifinals a heavy underdog, fifth-seeded Portageville gave top-seed and reigning champion Bernie a run for its money Wednesday night.

Plagued by troubles at the foul line, however, the Bulldogs saw a fourth quarter rally come up short, falling 55-48 as the Mules booked their ticket back to the title game.

"I was proud of them for coming out tonight and giving it their best shot against a really good team," Portageville head coach Jason Irby said. "Bernie is 22-5 now for a reason. If we could make some free throws it would be nice to see what the difference would be.

"We missed 13 free throws and those are big in a close game like that. That's the way it goes. You have to tip your hat to Bernie. They're a good team, but I was really proud of how our kids performed tonight."

Late in the third quarter Bernie looked ready to put the game away as they pulled away by 18 points, 43-25, with 46 seconds left in the period.

Caleb Gooch is being guarded by 2 Bernie players.

A pair of A.V. Banks free throws and a Caleb Gooch basket breathed a little life in the Bulldogs (9-13) and closed them within 14 points entering the fourth quarter, 43-29.

It was in the first four minutes of the final period that Portageville put together their best stretch of the night. They held the Mules to only one shot, a miss, during the stretch while going on a 7-1 run in three-and-a-half minutes.

A Gooch free throw with 3:09 to play extended Portageville's rally to 12-1 and pulled his team within seven points at 43-37.

"In the fourth quarter we decided to go with something we've been working on in practice a little bit which is a bigger lineup," Irby said. "We played our big freshman along with our other two post players, went big and hoped we could get some second chances off of it.

"I thought it worked pretty well for awhile and got us back in the game."

Portageville was back trailing by 10 points when Banks hit a quick bucket before following up with a 3-pointer to close his team's deficit to five, 50-45, with 41 seconds to play.

Forced to foul, the Bulldogs sent Jacob Wagner to the line with 34 seconds remaining, where he connected on both attempts.

A missed 3-pointer on Portageville's next possession allowed Bernie to rebound and essentially seal the game. Wagner sunk another couple shots from the foul line to push his team back out 54-45 with 25 seconds to play.

"We didn't keep attacking," Bernie head coach Brad Botsch said of his team's fourth quarter struggles. "That's something we talked about in the locker room after the game. We have to keep attacking in those situations and not try to just hold the lead, but continue to build on it."

For the Bulldogs, a strong fourth quarter almost made up for a rough third. They entered the second half down seven points, 21-14, only to start the third quarter 2 of 8 from the field.

This allowed the Mules to slowly pull ahead before scoring seven straight points in under a minute to take their biggest lead of the night, 43-25, with 46 seconds left in the period.

"We just got in a little bit of a (lull) offensively," Botsch said of his team's earlier struggles. "I thought we got in a little bit better rhythm and hit some shots. That helped us get going a little bit, but they started scoring a little bit too.

"We built about an 18-point lead, but they're not going to quit and came right back on us."

Portageville can certainly look back and wonder what a better night at the line would have done for them. They hit on only 8 of 21 (38 percent) attempts and 3 of 8 (37.5 percent) in the fourth quarter.

While the Mules weren't lights out, they finished the contest 17 of 25 (68 percent) at the foul line and of 10 of 15 (66.7 percent) in the fourth quarter. Wagner deserves much of the credit in preserving the win as he went 7 of 8 from the charity stripe in the fourth and 5 of 6 in the final 34 seconds.

"We shoot them a lot and fortunately for us they weren't hitting theirs," Botsch said. "Those things in a game like this make a big difference. We had to do a lot of things right, there's just not much of a margin of error."

Leading the Mules was an 18 point effort by Wagner that included three of his team's eight 3-pointers. B.J. Jennings was second on the team with 11 points.

In his final game as a Bulldog, Banks had 16 points, hitting two of Portageville's four 3-pointers and scoring six points during their comeback. Chris Garmon finished with 10 points.

"We got down by as many as 18 at one point and for us to get it back down to five points with under a minute to go shows a lot about the character of our kids," Irby said. "They're a good bunch and we just came up a little but short against a good team."

Bernie8132212--55
Portageville861519--48

BERNIE (55) -- Jacob Wagner 18, Brandon Sparks 6, B.J. Jennings 11, Troy Kirkpatrick 8, Justin Stanfield 2, Bubby Schwent 6, Joey Walker 4. FG 15, FT 17-25, F 18. (3-pointers: Wagner 3, Sparks 1, Jennings 2, Kirkpatrick 2. Fouled out: Walker.)

PORTAGEVILLE (48) -- Jaylin Mosby 8, Chris Garmon 10, Derrick Priggle 7, A.V. Banks 16, Caleb Gooch 7. FG 18, FT 8-21, F 21. (3-pointers: Mosby 2, Banks 2. Fouled out: Gooch.)

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