Mexico needed a win on Friday night at Gary Filbert Court.

Mexico vs Moberly Photo Gallery

The Bulldogs closed Courtwarming with a 75-57 victory over Moberly, gaining wins in the North Central Missouri Conference and their district. They didn’t allow the Spartans to come too close by burying 11 3-pointers and stayed an undefeated 6-0 in the conference while Moberly fell to a conference record of 4-2.

Head coach Darren Pappas said Mexico (14-5, 6-0 NCMC) will need the 3-point shooting down the home stretch of this season like it had down the stretch in Friday’s game. Moberly (11-10, 4-2 NCMC) cut its deficit to 56-44 after the third quarter, but the Bulldogs drained two more 3-pointers as part of six 3-pointers in the second half. 

“Shots were falling,” Pappas said. “That’s always good to see those shots fall from the perimeter.”

PJ Perkins was crowned Mr. Bulldog after the game to beat out five other candidates for the honor. The senior just finished a solid all-around game with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists and hit one of the 3-pointers

Mexico finished with 19 assists and had many of them set up open looks from the perimeter. The Bulldogs had several instances of give-and-go and feeding the ball to an open shooter behind them while in motion, and Perkins said the team has players that can capitalize. Jaydon Eldridge led Mexico with 18 points and had two 3-pointers, Kaden Benne’s 12 points came from four 3-pointers, and Charlie Fisher had 15 points, four assists and three 3-pointers.

“We started off very hot,” Perkins said. “It was good to see Charlie Fisher knock down some threes. He’s been very hesitant on shooting threes so it’s good to see him hit some. KB and Jay, that’s they’re specialty.”

Mexico couldn’t have started the game any better by outscoring Moberly 25-11 in the first quarter, including a 7-0 run for a 21-9 lead. The first points of the game came off a Perkins assist to Holden Aulbur for a dunk, and the Bulldogs knew what to do from there.

Pappas said Aulbur’s dunk gave Mexico the energy it needed and the confidence to execute the offense it wanted to run. Perkins assisted on the Bulldogs’ first three field goals, and he continued to be a consistent facilitator by making smooth passes in transition.

“He’s playing a flex four for us so he’s obviously got a guard skillset that allows him to get out and push the ball in transition,” Pappas said. “That allows him to make decisions and see the floor really well.”

Perkins was making decisions in the blink of an eye but usually put the ball in the place it needed to go. First to Aulbur for a dunk and then to Fisher for a 3-pointer and so on.

“Playing with the same guys I’ve been playing with for four years, I know where they’re at on the court,” Perkins said. “I don’t really have to look, but I know they’re going to be there. When they get it, they’re going to make a play.”

Collin Knox led Moberly with 19 points, and Mason Bivins followed with 12 points. Knox pounded the lane all night and finished through contact. 

Pappas acknowledged it was the third game in four days for Mexico against a quick and athletic Moberly squad that can “stretch you out” on offense and rain down 3-pointers on lapses of communication on defense. The Spartans couldn’t score easily for several stretches but used Mexico fouls to chip away at the deficit, putting Perkins and Aulbur in foul trouble with four fouls each.

“We fouled a little bit too much,” Pappas said. “They capitalized from the free-throw line and that stops the clock obviously. We can’t have that as we continue to build this thing as we get closer to districts. We’ve got to be able to get consecutive stops.”

Perkins said the win puts Mexico in a good position to win the conference with remaining home games against Marshall, Fulton and Hannibal and a rematch at Moberly on the schedule after Friday. He enjoys the honor of being Mr. Bulldog but liked beating Moberly even more.

Pappas said there is still plenty of conference basketball left and also a 7:30 p.m. Thursday nonconference game at Class 2 No. 5 Harrisburg (16-4). Mexico extended its winning streak to seven with a 72-54 win at Quincy Notre Dame on Saturday night in the Superfan Shootout. Benne was selected as the player of the game after finishing with 26 points, six 3-pointers, six assists and six rebounds, Eldridge had 19 points and Perkins had 12 points and five rebounds.

“It separates us a little bit, but we can’t be too comfortable,” Pappas said. “The NCMC is a very challenging conference to win in so you’ve got to be ready to play every single night. This is just one step in the right direction to our goal of winning a conference title. That’s the first thing on our checklist.”