Mustang seniors lead BIC past Manila

Buffalo Island Central seniors Austin Pike, Alan Carmichael and Seth Eatmon put on quite a show in the final regular season game of their careers Friday night at the Mustang Athletic Complex in Monette. Pike recorded his second triple double of the week, pumping in 20 points, snaring 23 rebounds while blocking 10 shots. Carmichael scored 15 points and grabbed 12 boards while Eatmon canned three treys and finished with 15 points as the trio celebrated senior night with a 59-42 victory over rival Manila.

The two teams swapped the lead back and forth throughout the first period before Pike dropped in a pair of free throws at the 18 second mark to hand the Mustangs a 14-12 edge after the first break.

BIC continued to hold a small lead throughout most of the second quarter, until Lion senior guard Thomas Davis buried a long three pointer from the left corner to give the Lions their first lead of the second quarter, 26-23. A Pike free throw sliced the Manila advantage to 26-24 at intermission.

BIC senior guard Austin Pike lowers his shoulder and drives around Manila's Burch Milano in high school basketball action Friday night at the Mustang Athletic Complex. Pike's triple double of 20 points, 23 rebounds and 10 blocked shots led the Mustangs past the Lions 59-42

BIC cranked up its defense in the third quarter, holding the Lions to just six points. Manila got a three pointer from Davis at the 6:54 mark and then went scoreless for the next five minutes until Burch Milano banged home a three at the 1:32 mark. In between the two Manila buckets, BIC outscored the Lions 16-0 to take a 42-29 advantage. Milano's triple broke the Lion scoring drought before Mustang senior Juan Castillo scored from the inside to put BIC on top 44-32 after three periods of play.

The Mustangs continued to stretch their margin in the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 20 points before closing out the 17 point victory.

Pike and Carmichael controlled the boards in the second half, and the Mustang defense, led by Pike, who not only blocked 10 shots but altered several more, stymied the Lion inside game time and again.

"We really played good defense in the second half," Pike said. "Our guards really shut down their perimeter in the second half, and when they did drive inside, I was able to play off my man and block several shots."

Castillo scored four points, Trey DePriest had three while Tyler Parker chipped in two to round out the Mustang scoring attack. BIC finished 21-32 from the foul line and drained four three pointers on the night.

Caleb Reinhart topped the Lions with 17 points. Kyle Joyner had seven, Davis and Milano scored six apiece while Erik Navarro chipped in three. Matthew May tallied two and Jake Helton pitched in one point. The Lions hit 8-15 free throws and drilled five three pointers.

The Manila senior high cheerleading squad "doing their thing" Friday night at halftime of the BIC-Manila senior boys game at Monette.

"We are back to playing better and with a lot of passion," said Mustang Coach Bill Taylor. "We are trying to give ourselves a better chance to get into the regional tournament. Pike and Carmichael both had big games. Austin had his second triple double of the week and Alan had a double-double tonight. Pike really changed the game with his defense on the inside. His size was a real problem for Manila. I thought Dax Hurst did a super job on Thomas Davis tonight. He tracked him all over the court. I thought it was just a really good effort by our team. I am very pleased."

The Mustangs began the week with a 69-54 nonconference victory over Harding Academy. Pike pumped in 27 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and dished out 11 assists in recording a triple double for BIC. Eatmon knocked down five three pointers and finished with 23 points.

Brady Palmer led Harding Academy with 15, Hayden Matthews tallied 14 while Alex Francis chipped in 13.

BIC begins 2A-3 District Tournament play Wednesday at 8:30. The third seeded Mustangs will take on the winner of Tuesday night's matchup between sixth seeded Riverside and number seven seed Rector with a trip to the regional tournament on the line.

Manila opens 3A-3 District Tournament action Tuesday night. The Lions are the tournament host.