Mexico junior forward Raef Yager (#25) scored 11 points Saturday during the Bulldogs 75-69 loss to Kirksville in a boys semifinal game of the Macon Invitational.
The Bulldog varsity boys …
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The Bulldog varsity boys fell victim to a more experienced Kirksville team Saturday and would play catch-up basketball from start to finish, as Mexico returned home sustaining a 75-69 semifinal loss at the 42nd Annual Macon Invitational.
Junior Noah Copeland led four Kirksville players in double figures with 23 points. Seniors Ryan Ball had 20 points, Paxton Dempsay and Dylan Kinney supplied 12 and 11 points respectively for the Tigers (13-1).
Kirksville led by six after the initial period, 35-26 by halftime and the Tigers opened up the fourth quarter at 56-46.
“In the first half we came out flat around the rim and we had some defensive miscommunications that gave Kirksville some easy buckets. We became better offensively in the second half and overall I thought we did a good job rebounding, but I think it came down to Kirksville being a veteran ball club that took advantage of some things we gave them,” said Mexico boys coach Darren Pappas. “We went on a couple of runs, but then Kirksville hit some shots around the perimeter We could not get multiple stops on them later in the game, and they would extend their lead a little bit more on us.”
For Mexico (5-9), senior Zach Watkins went 8-for-10 at the stripe to score a game-high 24 points and Isaiah Reams nailed three threes to score 20 in a losing effort. Raef Yager, a junior forward, tossed in 11 points.
Kirksville went 16-for-21 at the free throw line, and the Bulldogs made 14 of 19.
The Tiger boys will compete against Centralia for the tournament championship game Wednesday at 8 p.m., while Mexico takes on Brookfield for third place at 6:30 p.m. Wintry weather forced school administrators to revise its bracket schedules for both the girls and and boys games twice, with the girls trophy round contests being played on Monday.
Come Tuesday night Mexico plays at Moberly and next Friday the Bulldogs are at home facing Kirksville again.
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