Bulldogs end regular season in style

By: Dave Faries, Editor
Posted 3/3/21

Under normal circumstances a coach will dissect every little flaw after a game. Friday night at The Sports Complex, Darren Pappas had little to say.

“Moving the ball, defense, rebounding,” he …

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Bulldogs end regular season in style

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Under normal circumstances a coach will dissect every little flaw after a game. Friday night at The Sports Complex, Darren Pappas had little to say.

“Moving the ball, defense, rebounding,” he said, ticking off just some of the things his squad had done well in overwhelming Kirksville 86-63 to close out the regular season at 19-3 and a share of the conference crown.

Mexico dominated every phase of the game. Nine different Bulldogs put points on the board. Four – Isaiah Reams, Drew Blevins, Michael White and Jordan Mitchell – ended the evening in double digits.

The visitors didn’t play poorly. On most occasions 63 points keeps you in contention. But the Bulldogs never allowed Kirksville to rally.

“They shot the ball really well,” White observed.

Indeed, the Tigers pounced from the opening tip, jumping out to a 5-2 lead. And it was 6-6 midway through the first as the two sides jabbed.

But when Daeye Miller pirouetted around a defender and dished to Mitchell driving the baseline, Mexico began their showcase performance.

Reams struck from three. Miller grabbed a defensive rebound that led to another Mitchell layup. A Miller steal moments later started a break, Reams feeding Bevins on a flyer. Mexico was up 15-6 in a flash.

Kirksville closed to within 6 in the second quarter. But a power move by Raef Yager launched the Bulldogs on a 10-2 counterstrike.

Mexico led 45-33 at the half. In the third, Peyton Willer, White and Mitchell helped the Bulldogs pull away steadily, with Willer firing from distance and Mitchell lurking along the baseline.

“They know I’m on the back door,” Mitchell said of his teammates, who found him for 10 points. “It’s always open, that’s why I like it.”

But the most memorable shot of the Bulldogs’ 25-point third period came at the buzzer. Well into three point range when he got the ball, Ty Prince pivoted and stumbled. Just one second was on the clock, so he flung the ball toward the glass.

It skipped in for an unlikely three.

Did he see the shot before taking it? “Sort of,” Prince said with a laugh. “I wasn’t thinking about it. I was pretty surprised it went in.”

White took control in the fourth, going on a personal 6-2 run that finished off any desperate Kirksville dreams.

“I had to turn up for the end,” he said, chuckling. White scored 14 on the night.

Joining Mitchell and White in double figures were Reams with 19 and Blevins with 17 – both striking from short and long.

Willer chimed in with 8, Prince knocked in 6, as did Miller. Yager added 4 – “Raef does so many other things,” Pappas noted – and Dominic McKeown capped the scoring with a final jumper.

The Bulldogs are seeded number one in the district tournament. They were scheduled to play on Tuesday after a first round bye.


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