Boys basketball

Mexico fast starts slow Moberly in 83-53 win

One word that was on the minds of the Mexico boys Friday night during Courtwarming was fast.

Mexico boys, girls vs Moberly Photo Gallery

The Bulldogs wanted to start fast against North Central Missouri Conference Moberly and that’s exactly what they did in an 83-53 victory. Mexico took an 11-2 lead to start the first half and then began the second half on a 7-0 run on the way to its second-highest scoring game of the season — the first being an 85-82 triple-overtime victory against Strafford.

Head coach Darren Pappas said Mexico (13-7, 5-1 NCMC) didn’t play well in the first quarter of Tuesday’s 69-58 loss at Macon as the Bulldogs were outscored 25-8 in the first quarter. They couldn’t afford to do that again against a conference opponent.

“We wanted to get off to a good start,” Pappas said. “We knew we had to play good defense — in the first quarter we held them to eight points. I’m pleased with the start that we got, the ball movement and the balanced scoring.”

DJ Long finished with a game-high 19 points and three 3-pointers, Jordan Shelton followed with 13 points and seven steals, Jaydon Eldridge finished with 12 points and three 3-pointers, PJ Perkins had 10 points and seven rebounds, and Mr. Bulldog candidate Anthony Shivers had 10 points and two 3-pointers.

On those potent starts in each half, Mexico locked down defensively and then kept Moberly (3-16, 0-6 NCMC) to one shot as the defensive rebounds belonged to the Bulldogs most of the night. The Spartans trimmed their deficit to 37-28 after a more active second quarter on the boards. Collin Huffman had a game-high 11 rebounds along with eight points, and Derieus Wallace finished with nine points and seven rebounds to follow Mason Bivins’ 15 points and three 3-pointers off the bench.

“We wanted to definitely lock down the boards — hold them to one shot and out,” Pappas said. “When we did secure the boards, we were able to find our guys and really push in transition and get some easy buckets.”

After playing in the Ramey Basketball Mid-Missouri Invitational on Saturday against St. Louis University High School, Mexico hosts conference foe Marshall (3-17, 0-5 NCMC) at 7:30 p.m. Monday and travels to St. Elizabeth (14-7) for a 7:30 p.m. Friday game.

Community R-6 75 Pilot Grove 44 in Laddonia. Gavin Allen led with 35 points, Eli Johnson had 13 points and Mason Carroll had 12 points

Elsberry 86 North Callaway 52 in Elsberry. Matthew Weber had 21 points and Sam Pezold had 14 points

Van-Far 73 (Class 1 No. 5) Higbee 52 in Ramey Basketball Mid-Missouri Invitational in Harrisburg. Nikos Connaway had 27 points and Cody Smith had 20 points

Centralia 55 Highland 42 in Centralia

Paris 62 Knox County 48 in Edina

Girls basketball

Mexico's pace slows in 61-29 loss to Moberly

The Mexico girls couldn’t maintain the offense after the first few minutes of Friday’s game.

The Lady Bulldogs hung around with North Central Missouri Conference foe Moberly until a 14-0 run preceded a cold offensive day and a 61-29 loss. Mexico (7-14, 3-3 NCMC) couldn’t hand the Lady Spartans (13-7, 6-0 NCMC) their first conference loss as a trio of their players — Grace Billington, Asa Fanning and Kennedy Messer — each stepped up at different times.

Head coach Ed Costley said he liked how Mexico started the game being aggressive and quick on offense as the Lady Bulldogs passed the ball down the floor to shoot before Moberly’s defense was set.

“We played with a better pace and tempo (in the first quarter),” Costley said. “In the end of the third quarter and fourth quarter, I felt like we got that back and played a little bit more assertively.”

The teams were knotted at seven points in the first quarter, but Costley said the Lady Bulldogs missed a couple of layups that turned into Moberly points. Grace Billington knocked down one of her four 3-pointers in the first quarter — as part of her 15-point game — after one missed layup and then following a turnover.

Mexico fell behind 21-7 after the first quarter, not establishing a paint presence for most of the game, Costley said. Messiah Simpson was able to notch a 3-point play in the fourth quarter to give her a team-high nine points, Claire Hudson followed with six points, and Karlee Sefrit had five points.

Mexico hosts its next conference foe Marshall (5-14, 0-5 NCMC) at 6:15 p.m. Monday prior to playing at Class 5 Capital City (3-16) at 6:15 p.m. Friday.

Community R-6 44 Pilot Grove 43 in Laddonia. Sarah Angel made game-winning free throw and Aaliyah Welch hit game-tying 3-pointer. Welch had nine points and six rebounds, Kayla Jett had nine points, and Alyssa Beamer had eight points

Elsberry 27 North Callaway 23 in Elsberry. Riley Blevins had seven points, and Abrielle Burgher had seven rebounds and three steals.

Higbee 54 Van-Far 23 in Ramey Basketball Mid-Missouri Invitational in Harrisburg

Centralia 59 Highland 46 in Centralia

Look for the full stories in the Wednesday, February 8, 2023, edition of the Mexico Ledger or on the website (in case space limited).