The Mexico faithful may have noticed a familiar face on the opposing bench Friday at Mizzou Arena.

Roaming the sideline at the helm for St. Michael the Archangel was Mark Scanlon, who previously coached at Mexico from 1983-1987. Scanlon, who has over 700 career wins, led the Class 3 private school out of Lee’s Summit against the Bulldogs, who entered the Norm Stewart Classic at 4-0.

Presented by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, the invitational shootout features 48 consecutive hours of high school hoops and gives some of the state’s top teams the opportunity to play under the bright lights on the SEC hardwood.

“It’s a great experience to play on such a big stage, in a collegiate arena, on ESPN3,” said Mexico head coach Darren Pappas. “It’s a really neat experience and good for our kids.”

While the Bulldogs have played in the Norm Stewart Classic several times, with last year’s event canceled due to COVID-19, seniors Isaiah Reams and Michael White were the only current players with prior experience. And although the Bulldogs were outsized against the Guardians, they used their quickness and defensive pressure to force mistakes en route to a 68-42 win.        

“We knew that St. Michael’s was going to be a tough opponent going in, so we had our work cut out for us,” Pappas explained. “But the boys did a phenomenal job sticking to the game plan and responding.”

The feisty Bulldogs forced 20 turnovers and scored 24 points off St. Michael’s mistakes, all while limiting the Guardians to six free-throw attempts. They were also aggressive offensively, scoring 30 points in the paint and getting to the charity stripe 25 times, converting on 17 attempts.

Reams led the Bulldogs with 20 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals and was named the Gary Filbert Most Valuable Player of the Game. 

“He let the game come to him,” Pappas said of the senior guard. “He hit some shots from three, got in the paint and was able to finish through contact and got to the line six times. He kind of just did it all.”

It was a team effort for Mexico, as they shot 46% from the field and 5-of-12 from 3-point range, with seniors Daeye Miller and Michael White chipping in 10 and 11 points, respectively.

“When the defense helped, [Reams] was able to drop it off to Daeye and Michael,” said Pappas. “And they were able to finish.”

Sophomore guard Damon Long chipped in 10 points, four boards, two dimes and two steals, while junior Anthony Shivers tallied nine points, including a three-quarter court buzzer beater to end the first quarter.

“Anthony Shivers was huge off the bench for us,” said Pappas.

The Bulldogs (5-0) were scheduled to play Kirksville (5-0) in a North Central Missouri Conference matchup. 

The Bulldogs follow Tuesday’s contest with a home conference matchup against Hannibal on Thursday, before hosting the Gary Filbert Classic on Saturday. Filbert was a coach and athletic director at Mexico High School, racking up 260 wins before moving on to the college ranks and continuing to find success.

“He’s huge for our program and for the entire state of Missouri when it comes to basketball,” Pappas said of Filbert. “He’s really important to us and it’s a great event to honor a good man and a good coach that was here at Mexico.”

The Mexico girls are slated to play Harrisburg at 5:30 p.m., with the boys to follow against Harrisburg at 7 p.m.