The Mexico boys offense hit the court running on Friday against Macon.

After leading Macon 35-31 through three quarters at home, the Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 24-12 in the fourth quarter to win 59-43. Charlie Fisher, Kinser Groves and Brady Thoenen combined for 23 points in the fourth quarter to each finish as a double-figure scorer.

Head coach Darren Pappas said Mexico (12-4) was turning rebounds into transition buckets more frequently in the fourth quarter after struggling to score through three quarters against Macon (2-11). 

Mexico vs Macon Photo Gallery

“That’s when we’re at our best,” Pappas said. “We were getting 3-on-2s and 2-on-1s and being able to finish at the rim.”

Charlie Fisher led Mexico with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists and scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, Kinser Groves finished with 16 points and six rebounds and scored six points in the fourth, and Brady Thoenen had 11 points and scored seven points in the fourth.

The Bulldogs couldn’t buy a bucket in the first quarter. Pappas said they had good looks at the rim but couldn’t put them in the hoop. 

“It’s not like it was bad offense,” Pappas said. “We were just struggling. I don’t know if it was a week off or what it was. I’m glad we found our groove in the fourth quarter.”

Groves said defensive pressure led to fastbreaks and easy layups. He was on the receiving end of those fastbreaks. 

While Groves is Mexico’s main post player who is counted on for rebounds, the senior showed some speed as he finished off three layups in transition in the fourth quarter. He said can play like a guard, hitting a 3-pointer in the first quarter.

“My role coming into the season was, even though I’m not that tall, I was going to have to get big down low,” Groves said. “I’m still a guard at heart sometimes. I can still run the floor, and we get the ball and go. All five of us can dribble and get down the court.”

Pappas said Mexico did well “attacking the paint” and “moving without the basketball” instead of standing and watching. This also led to the Bulldogs knocking down 3-pointers to help give Mexico separation, including Fisher and Thoenen in the fourth quarter.

Macon made Mexico work inside. The Bulldogs did set up layups early in the game, but Macon also had several defenders around the ball whenever the Bulldogs went into the lane and made them “rush shots at the rim,” according to Pappas.

“They put a lot of pressure on us on the interior,” Pappas said. “They were physical inside, and we shy away from that at times. We’ve got to be mentally tougher inside and be able to finish whenever guys are crashing on us or find the open man on the perimeter.”

As usual, Groves fought in the trenches as Macon pressured the interior. 

“They’re a little tough down there,” Groves said. “We overcame it and got tougher. We got the rebounds and kept going.”

Mexico (4-0 NCMC) has its Courtwarming game at 7:30 p.m. Friday against North Central Missouri Conference foe Kirksville (10-3, 2-1 NCMC) after winning 57-50 at Kirksville earlier this season. 

On Saturday, Mexico (13-4) had another strong fourth quarter when they overcame a 10-point deficit to win 62-61 against Class 5 Holt (9-8) in the Ramey Basketball Mid-Missouri Invitational in Harrisburg. Thoenen was named the MVP with a team-high 14 points, Groves and James Matthews each had 11 points, and Fisher had seven points and the game-winning free throw with 1.5 seconds left. Pappas wants the fourth quarter to also be future games’ first three quarters.

“We’ve got to be better out the gate,” Pappas said. “We’ve been struggling in games as of late to get off to a hot start. Defense always is there as coach (Dion “Bosco”) Nunnelly does a good job of mixing it up, and we rely on that defense to get us through.”