MARMADUKE — It didn’t take long for the first upset in the Class 2A boys state tournament as Bearden knocked off Conway St. Joseph 75-63 in the first round Tuesday.
Bearden, the fourth seed from the South Region, slowed Conway St. Joseph, the top seed from the West Region, with an attacking defense that forced St. Joseph into several turnovers that led to uncontested shots for Bearden.
Bearden trailed 8-3 early but fought back to tie the game at 13-13 on Clint Parham’s field goal with 1:41 left in the first quarter. Bearden eventually took a 19-18 lead on a three-pointer by Parham as time expired in the first quarter.
“I told our boys before the game, in order to be the man, you have to beat the man, and we started by taking out the top seed,” Bearden Coach Bobby Hartgen said. “Obviously, it won’t get any easier from here on out, but our conference, I think, prepared us for this.
“The boys realize the road to a championship is paved with hard work, and here we go.”
Conway St. Joseph regained the lead, 27-25, on a field goal by Drew Bates with 4:58 left in the second quarter. But a field goal by B.J. Ross gave Bearden a 30-29 lead with 3:31 left in thehalf. Bearden took a 37-34 advantage into intermission.
St. Joseph fought back to tie the game at 44-44 midway through the third quarter. But Bearden outscored St. Joseph 12-4 to close out the third quarter as it took a 56-48 lead into the final quarter and never looked back.
Cole Schichtl scored a game-high 28 points for St. Joseph.
Parham led Bearden with 20 points and Jamond Young had 18. Quntin Wilson added 15 points for Bearden, and DeVontae Ross had 10.
CEDAR RIDGE 81, ENGLAND 61
Cedar Ridge jumped out to a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter behind 3 three-pointers by Austin Reaves, and the Timberwolves went on to defeat England in the opening round.
Spencer Reaves led Cedar Ridge with 31 points as the Timberwolves coasted into halftime with a 34-22 lead.
Monte Toney led England with 22 points. Josh Fudge added 16 and Antonyo Means had 14.
RIVERSIDE 73, HUGHES 72
Riverside (23-15) rallied from a fourpoint deficit in the final 10 seconds to defeat Hughes (28-12).
A three-pointer by Padisher Joshaway gave Hughes a 72-68 lead with 34 seconds left. But Riverside’s Caleb Waugh was fouled attempting a three-pointer and hit all three free throws with 9.7 seconds led to make it 72-71.
Hughes was whistled for another foul before the ball was inbounded, and Dylan Wright hit both free throws to give Riverside a 73-72 lead and the Rebels held on the for the victory.
Wright led Riverside with 16 points, Waugh had 16, Logan Meurer 15 and Alteeno Sain 11.
Hughes’ Sylvester White led all scorers with 25 points.
Sports, Pages 25 on 02/27/2013