Boys basketball

Early on Tuesday night, Mexico appeared to be in trouble against Westphalia.

Mexico fell behind 14-0 against Fatima but battled until the halftime score was tied at 30, and the Bulldogs won 58-56 after Jaydon Eldridge sank a 3-pointer in the final seconds. The victory avenged a 51-42 loss to the Comets in 2013.

DJ Long led Mexico (1-0) with 26 points and hit four 3-pointers, Jordan Shelton followed with 17 points and Eldridge finished with 10 points, knocking down three 3-pointers. Nate Brandt for Fatima (2-1) led all scorers with 28 points, and Cooper Kleffner had 11 points.

After the third quarter, Fatima led 45-38 so Shelton and Eldridge each had their biggest quarters in the fourth. Shelton scored seven points in the final quarter, and Eldridge hit two 3-pointers.

Mexico plays in the first round of the Montgomery County Invitational at 6 p.m. Tuesday as the No. 1 seed against No. 8 Wellsville-Middletown (0-1). Montgomery County, Clopton, Hermann, Fulton, New Haven and Bowling Green are also in the boys bracket.

Centralia boys selection seals 53-45 loss to Osage

The Centralia boys were on School of the Osage’s heels all night.

The Panthers didn’t catch the Indians on Nov. 22 at home as they started the season with a 53-45 loss. Four Centralia players finished with nine points, and the team finished with 19 turnovers.

Cullen Bennett led with nine points and 10 rebounds, Boen Zimmerman followed with nine points and nine rebounds, Logan Rosenfelder had nine points and seven rebounds, and Benji Chick had nine points.

Head coach Scott Humphrey said Centralia (0-1) is still a young team in several areas, namely turnovers and shot selection as those were the difference against Osage (1-0).

“We still have to find out who we are and how we play,” Humphrey said. “I thought we tried to execute the game plan but Osage was very athletic and their press bothered us.We just need to find a way to get better every game. We have to learn from our mistakes.”

Centralia trailed 16-15 after one quarter, 27-22 at halftime and 40-33 after the third quarter.

The Panthers play at home again at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against North Callaway.

Paris boys lull in second quarter precedes 58-46 loss at Mark Twain

The Paris boys played with Mark Twain on the road Tuesday but couldn’t keep up all four quarters.

The Coyotes were outscored 16-6 in the second quarter and eventually lost 58-46. Mark Twain converted on four 3-pointers and six more free throws than Paris (1-1), which finished with a 44 percent free throw percentage and outrebounded the Tigers 28-26.

Walter Rucker led Paris with 11 points — making him the only Coyotes to score in double figures — six rebounds and three steals. Evan Smothers followed with eight points and three assists, Colton Poddany finished with eight points, and Mason Edwards had six points and four rebounds. For Mark Twain (1-0), Conner Eckler led with 24 points and knocked down all four of the Tigers’ 3-pointers, and Devin Whaley had 10 points.

Paris made a run in the third quarter, outsourcing Mark Twain 15-11 but couldn’t quite make the comeback as the Tigers sealed the game with a 23-17 fourth-quarter margin.

Paris hosts South Shelby (0-1) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

MMA still getting warmed up after 57-20 loss at Silex

For many Colonels, it was their first varsity game.

Missouri Military Academy fell behind precipitously early in its season opener Nov. 18 at Silex as MMA lost 57-20. The Colonels (0-1) were competitive in the first quarter, but Silex’s hot shooting gave them firm control of the rest of the game.

Lucas Almeida led with six points, Nathan Dempsey followed with five points and Albert Ogutu had four points. 

“It was most of the team’s first varsity experience and there are a lot of games ahead,” head coach Roger Siwak said. “The team has bought into the process and each student-athlete is focused on getting better individually and as a team.”

Dempsey hit a 3-pointer, and Ogutu, Almeida and Tsengeg Bayasgalan each contributed before Silex (2-0) kept hitting shots from the field. MMA couldn’t match the Owls’ accuracy as the Colonels fell behind by 12 points early in the second quarter.

The junior varsity team won 21-18 as defense and balanced scoring give the Colonels a victory in their first game. Brandon Lerner led with seven points, and Gabriel Kaiser followed with five points. 

MMA (0-1) plays at Sunnydale Adventist Academy at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Girls basketball

North Callaway girls shooting at line gives 43-37 edge over Fulton

The North Callaway girls had to fight for their first victory of the season Monday in Kingdom City.

The Ladybirds hosted Fulton, a fellow Callaway County they haven’t played since 2012 and not at home since 2011, and pulled away late to win 43-37. North Callaway sank many free throws in the fourth quarter after ending the third quarter tied at 32 with the Lady Hornets.

Natalie Shryock and Riley Blevins each scored 13 points to lead North Callaway (1-0) while Fulton’s Kier Henderson had a game-high 18 points, hitting two 3-pointers.

North Callaway led 13-7 after one quarter and 21-14 at halftime, but Fulton (0-1) closed the gap in the third quarter after a couple of 3-pointers from Henderson and a game-tying jumper by Jayla Vardeman.

Fulton’s foul troubles put the Ladybirds at the line in the fourth quarter to first sink four free throws for a four-point lead and then Blevins made a few from the line to give North Callaway a 42-35 lead with about a minute left.

North Callaway goes on the road on Tuesday to face Centralia (0-1) at 6 p.m.

Mexico girls lose 50/50 game 45-44 at Silex

Tuesday night’s game could go either way for the Mexico girls.

The Lady Bulldogs couldn’t take advantage of late possessions to lose 45-44 at Silex. Mexico finished with 30 turnovers compared with Silex’s 21 and wasn’t able to convert at the free throw line or take advantage of a steal with seconds left in the game.

Claire Hudson led Mexico (0-2) with 15 points and pulled down five rebounds, Messiah Simpson followed with eight points and seven rebounds, Karlee Sefrit had five points, Lexie Willer finished with four points, five rebounds and four assists, Kenzie Taylor had four points and six rebounds, and Jo Thurman had four points.

Head coach Ed Costley said he thought Mexico had a better understanding of the necessary pace it needs to play at but now needs to come up with more 50/50 balls.

“Defensively, we have to be stronger and grasp the 50/50 balls off the rebound and on both ends of the floor,” Costley said. “We're allowing too many would-be possessions to turn into jump balls.”

The Lady Bulldogs made a run when down four with two minutes left in the game. They finished with 57 percent shooting at the free throw line.

Mexico plays in the Montgomery County Invitational on Monday. The Lady Bulldogs are the No. 3 seed and are scheduled to face No. 6 Wellsville-Middletown (0-1) at 7:30 p.m.

Centralia girls lose opener 63-41 to California

The Centralia girls need some time to adjust this season.

The Lady Panthers lost their season opener at home to California 63-41, trailing after every quarter against a Lady Pintos team that is coming off a 21-win season where they won a district title.

Morgan Ross led Centralia with 10 points and Braylin Burkhorst, Shelby Lewis and Jozelynn Bostick each followed with eight points.

Centralia head coach Megan Brinkmann is in her first season with her new team after winning district titles four out of the last five years with Bowling Green and Eugene. Because she is new to Centralia, she said the Lady Panthers will need some time to adjust to the new offense and defense she wants to run.

When things start clicking, Brinkmann said Centralia should fit into the system well and thrive.

“It was a tough matchup for us for our first game of the season,” Brinkmann said. “Implementing a new offense and defense takes time. California is a good team and we will get better and learn from this game. The girls played hard and I am happy with their effort.”

Centralia (0-1) will host its next game Tuesday against North Callaway (1-0) at 6 p.m.

Arnett shooting gives Paris girls 29-24 edge at Mark Twain

The shots weren’t falling much Tuesday in the Paris girls’ game.

Paris played at Mark Twain, only finishing at 29 percent from the field and the Lady Tigers shot about 19 percent from the field, winning 29-24 because of three 3-pointers nailed by Kameron Arnett and a 14-2 third-quarter margin.

Arnett led all scorers with nine points and had four rebounds, three steals and five deflections on the defense. Alyssa Webb followed with eight points, six rebounds (four offensive) and three steals, Reese Sutton had eight points, five rebounds and one block, and Sophia Crusha added three steals.

The Lady Coyotes (2-0) fell behind 9-4 after one quarter and trailed 11-8 at halftime. They owned a 22-13 lead after the third quarter.

Mark Twain (0-1) had 15 points off turnovers but were 0-for-7 from 3-point territory, and Paris outrebounded the Lady Tigers on the offensive glass 9-3 and were 3-for-11 from 3-point land.

Paris has earned half of its win total from last season and has two wins prior January, which is when it earned win No. 1 last season. The Lady Coyotes face reigning all-state player Miranda Patterson and Class 3 runner-up South Shelby (1-0) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Check back later for more details from this week's games when that information becomes available.