Boys basketball

Benne rains 3s, Mexico overwhelms Marshall in 2nd half 75-46

Mexico freshman Kaden Benne played three quarters in the junior varsity game Monday at home hours before he would leave his mark against Marshall.

Mexico boys, girls vs Marshall Photo Gallery

The Bulldogs went back-and-forth with their North Central Missouri Conference foe for a little more than two quarters, being down 31-30 at one point until Benne drained a 3-pointer off the bench. He then knocked down four more, and Mexico scored 53 points in the second half to win 75-46.

“I’ve put a lot of work in practice, standing around and shooting and what-not, but I think just staying around and putting in those extra shots is what really helped me tonight,” Benne said.

Prior to Benne’s first 3-pointer, Mexico (14-8, 6-1 NCMC) was competitive as PJ Perkins kept pulling down rebounds as part of his eight points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, and DJ Long was well on his way to supplying another 23 points and six rebounds off the bench. Stephen Caviness led Marshall (3-18, 0-6 NCMC) with 14 points, and Deacon Arends followed with 10 points.

Mexico goes on the road for three straight before its final home game Feb. 21 against Hannibal for Senior Night. The Bulldogs play St. Elizabeth (14-8), who received votes in the latest Class 1 state poll, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and then conference rival and Class 4 No. 7 Fulton (16-3, 4-1 NCMC) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Van-Far 80 Missouri Military Academy 46 in Mexico. Pacey Reading led Van-Far with 17 points

Girls basketball

Mexico girls clean up defense in 54-46 win vs Marshall

The Mexico girls were giving away too much Monday night at home.

The Lady Bulldogs were giving away too many points to Marshall, trailing 21-10 in the second quarter, but the fouls were also out of control. Despite reaching the penalty early in the second quarter, the Lady Bulldogs surged ahead at first with a 20-3 run and held off their North Central Missouri Conference foe 54-46.

Head coach Ed Costley said the main issue was defending without fouling, and he thought Mexico didn’t do that very well in the first half.

“They went to the free throw line, it wasn’t like she shot it a lot, but they made 10 of their 24 points off the free throw line,” Costley said. “That was one of the main things. We gave them too easy looks to get to the line.”

Claire Hudson provided a steady presence for Mexico (8-14, 4-3 NCMC) while scoring the ball and competing on the boards as she finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, Lexie Willer followed with 13 points and three steals, Messiah Simpson had seven points, and Jo Thurman finished with six points.

Mexico plays at Class 5 Capital City (3-16) in Jefferson City on Friday prior to facing North Central Missouri Conference rival Fulton (6-15, 1-4 NCMC) for the third time this season at 6:30 p.m. in Fulton.

North Callaway 63 Wright City 40 in Wright City. Natalie Shrock led North Callaway with 22 points and five steals

Boys wrestling

MMA 54 California 27 in California

MMA 81 Morgan County 0 in California. Colonels set a new school record with 17 dual wins in a season

Look for the full stories in the Saturday, February, 11, 2023, edition of the Mexico Ledger.