Mustangs dominate Rebels 63-38

Buffalo Island Central scored the last five points of the opening period, breaking a 10-10 tie, and went on to an easy 63-38 victory over archrival Riverside Friday night in 2A-3 conference play at the Mustang Athletic Complex.

BIC jumped on top 5-0 to begin the game, thanks to a three point play by Austin Pike and an inside bucket from Nick Bollinger. But the Rebels rallied on a Victor Cerda three pointer, a stick-back by Devon Austin and another trey by Caleb Waugh to put Riverside on top 8-6 midway through the first period.

Bollinger gave BIC a two point lead with back to back buckets before Austin's seven footer tied the game 10 all with 2:00 left in the quarter. Senior guard Jacob Sanders drilled a three pointer off the left wing to put the Mustangs on top for good, and Bollinger's offensive rebound bucket gave BIC a 15-10 lead after the first break.

Riverside's Kollin Stone drives the baseline Friday night in senior high basketball action at Monette.

Cerda's second three of the game sliced the Mustang lead to two points early in the second quarter, but BIC answered with another triple by Sanders, which began an 8-2 run, pushing the Mustang lead to 25-17. Treys by Pike and Alex Ballin closed out the first half with BIC ahead 36-23.

The Mustangs increased their margin in the third quarter, bolstered by Alan Carmichael who scored six points during the stanza, giving BIC a 51-32 advantage after three quarters of play. BIC built its lead to as many as 28 points in the final frame, and coasted to their ninth win against just one defeat. BIC is a perfect 2-0 in conference play. The loss drops Riverside to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

"We played physical and we spread it around," said Mustang Coach Bill Taylor. "Our post players are playing well and that excites me. Our coaches have really been working with our big men and we can see the improvement. We were bigger and we controlled the boards. It was a good win for us. I thought Austin Pike was really good tonight, finding the open man and blocking shots, doing all the things we want him to do. Jacob Sanders played terrific tonight. It was a good conference win."

"I thought the one advantage going into the game was that we were quicker, but BIC beat us up and down the floor all night long," said Rebel Coach Buster Campbell. "We are going to have to go back to the house and practice on getting back on defense. We had too many defensive mistakes and breakdowns tonight. I give BIC all the credit. They beat us in every phase of the game. We couldn't score, we took bad shots, and we didn't run our offense. It was a thorough whipping but we will do our best to get better. It's only one game. It's a long season."

Pike led a balanced Mustang scoring attack with 17 points. Bollinger scored 14, Jacob Sanders had 13 while Carmichael pitched in 12. Ballin tallied six while Evan Sanders chipped in one point.

Riverside junior high players, cheerleaders and fans celebrate the Rebels' overtime victory over Buffalo Island Central Friday night at Monette.

Kollin Stone led the Rebels with nine points while Austin, Cerda, and Brandon Sain all added six points apiece. Waugh and Levi Reed scored three points each while Marcos Sheppard and Brandon Towery added two points apiece.

In junior high action, Dillon Turner sank a free throw in overtime with no time remaining to give the Rebels a thrilling 43-42 win.

BIC led 12-5 after the opening period and held a 25-21 lead at intermission. The Mustangs took a 36-30 advantage into the fourth quarter before Riverside rallied to send the game into overtime with the score tied 38-38.

BIC's Dax Hurst (4) and Rebels Dylan Davis (44) and Gavin Stone (5) battle for the ball Friday night at Monette. The Rebels defeated the Mustangs in overtime.

Turner paced the Rebels with 16 points while Braden Overman and Canon Walling added eight points apiece. Gavin Stone scored seven while Dylan Davis chipped in four. The victory improved Riverside's record to 8-3 and 2-0 in league play.

Trey DePriest led the Mustangs with 17 points while Cory Turner added 12. Tanner Cecil scored six, Chayse Carmichael had three while Andrew McFarlin and Dax Hurst pitched in two points apiece.

Austin Pike poured in 36 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Mustangs to a hard fought 63-55 victory over Augusta in 2A-3 action Tuesday night at Monette.

Pike sank 16-24 free throws on the night to help rally the Mustangs from a seven point halftime deficit. BIC led 14-10 after the opening quarter before the Red Devils took a 33-26 lead at intermission. BIC rallied in the third period to take a 44-41 edge into the final frame.

Alex Ballin and Alan Carmichael scored nine points apiece for BIC. Jacob Sanders tallied seven while Tyler Myers chipped in two points.

Jailon Brown led Augusta with 14 points while Lorenzo Pryor and Darius Warner added 10 points each.

In junior high action, the Mustangs put 12 players in the scoring column en route to a 59-10 crushing of the Red Devils.

Cory Turner led BIC with 10 points. Trey DePriest, Adrian Lopez and Alex Talavera added seven points apiece. Jace Couch scored six, Dax Hurst and Chayse Carmichael contributed five points apiece while Andrew McFarlin chipped in four points. Kaleb Dublin, Logan Harrison, Jared Shirley and Tanner Cecil added two points each.

BIC will return to action Monday night, playing host to McCrory in a league matchup at the MAC before traveling to Midland for a Tuesday night tilt.