Game 1
#1 Seed – El Dorado Springs vs #8 Seed – Carthage JV
First Round Game
Nov 28, 2022(Monday)
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
EDSHS 9 10 12 13 44
CHS 17 9 7 10 43
The first game of the tournament had the El Dorado Springs boys going up against the Carthage Tigers (JV) team. But don’t let the “JV” label fool you. This was a solid opponent for the Bulldogs and new coach Brian Johnson.
Johnson said, “When you see the tag JV on the team, players immediately begin to underestimate the talent on the team and begin to assume it will be an easy win. We spent numerous practices trying to get the players to focus on the opponent and not underestimate them. It’s Carthage! They have lots of kids to choose from. Don’t buy into the fact they label this a “JV” team.”
Sure enough, it was a barn burner! Carthage finished the first quarter with a 17-9 lead! The Bulldogs were able to pull within seven points going into halftime. After a fiery halftime speech, the Bulldogs came out focused and on target to make a comeback.
Johnson said, “We had to get the team focused on the comeback! We have to protect the ball and rebound!”
The Bulldogs outrebounded the Tigers on the defensive end. The Bulldogs had 19 defensive rebounds and to the Tigers 11. The bulldogs also outscored the Tigers 28-22 in the paint. This led to an amazing comeback, with Sophomore Joe Gordan hitting two big three point baskets to cut the Tigers lead to 33-31.
The fourth quarter didn’t disappoint either! Freshman Jacob Johnson scored his first Varsity points on a three point shot (@ 3:51 on the clock) that put the Bulldogs within one point of the Tigers (41-42). Both teams had a scoring drought until a no-call foul led to a turnover and a 1 point lead for the Tigers with 14 seconds on the clock.
Johnson said, “I tried to call a time-out three separate times!Landon had the ball, I’m calling time-out, he passes to Burley (Kaden), I’m still calling timeout, then Burley skips the pass to Jake (Johnson) and he gets “trucked” by the Carthage player, “No Call!”
The Bulldogs have 14 seconds to get the in-bounds, and make it the length of the court. The pressure is on.
Johnson said, “I drew up a play for Landon and Joe to get to the basket. We get two separate looks, no openings! So, with 5.2 seconds on the clock, Joe (Gordan) gets the ball to Landon and he drives hard to the top of the key, crosses back, and uses Burleys (Kaden) screen and gets to the basket and releases the ball with 1.4 seconds on the clock and it goes in! Bulldogs win!”
They sure did! The Bulldogs were able to give Johnson his first win in Missouri 44-43 (1-0)!
Leading Players:
Kaden Burley 12 points / 7 Rebounds
Kuliath Kephart – 8 points / 7 Rebounds
Landon Murry – 8 points / GW shot!
Joe Gordan – 7 points / 2 – 3pt baskets
#24 Freshman Jake Johnson hits a huge three point basket to bring the Bulldogs within 1 point of the lead. This was his first high school shot and basket of his career.
#1 Junior Landon Murry scored two of his 8 points at the buzzer to lead the Bulldogs to a first round victory! The Bulldogs start the season with a win (1-0). They will face Mt. Vernon in the second round.
Game 2
#1 Seed – El Dorado Springs vs #4 Seed – Mt. Vernon
Second Round Game
Nov. 30, 2022 (Wednesday)
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
EDSHS 10 15 15 10 50
MVHS 12 6 7 9 34
The second round game was against Mt. Vernon Mountaineers. The El Dorado Springs Bulldogs were down by two points at the end of the first quarter (10-12). The Bulldogs proceeded to outscore the Mountaineers, 40 to 22 over the next three quarters and Eldo held Mt. Vernon to single digits in the last three quarters. The Bulldogs out-rebounded Mt. Vernon 34-20 in the game.
The Bulldogs shot:
2FG Made/Attempted 12/29 = 41.4%
3FG Made/Attempted 4/12 = 33.3%
FT Made/Attempted 14/18 = 77.8%
Bulldog Leaders:
Landon Murry
18 points / 5 Rebounds
Kaden Burley
11 points / 8 rebounds / 1 block
Joe Gordon
10 points / 4 rebounds / 4 steals
The Bulldogs finished the game 50-34. They are now (2-0), heading into the Gem City Classic Championship Game.
#11 Sophomore Joe Gordon challenges the three point shot while #0 Senior Grant Ehlers looks on.
Final Score – El Dorado Springs 50 Mt. Vernon 34
Game 3
#1 Seed – El Dorado Springs vs #2 Seed – Thomas Jefferson Independent
Championship Game
Dec. 3, 2022 (Saturday)
Team 1 2 3 4 Final
EDSHS 13 12 23 10 58
TJIDH 15 18 8 12 53
By: Brock Sisney
results@somo-sports.com |
@somo_sports
DIAMOND, Mo. — The Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers saw their 35-25 lead early in the third quarter turn into a 48-41 deficit entering the fourth on Saturday night against El Dorado Springs in the championship game of the Gem City Classic.
Thomas Jefferson narrowed it down to 52-50, but the Bulldogs had enough free throws and defensive stops late to earn a 58-53 win and the Gem City championship.
“We knew they were going to come out strong in the third quarter,” Thomas Jefferson coach Chris Myers said. “We talked about it at halftime, and we talked about it before we came back out. I thought we weathered the storm and calmed back down and made it a game again. We just couldn’t get any shots to fall there late, which made us come up a little short.”
El Dorado Springs junior guard and tournament MVP Landon Murry heated up in the second half, especially during that third quarter in which the Bulldogs put a 23-8 bite on the Cavaliers, with 16 of his team-high 19 points.
Sophomore guard Joe Gordon scored all nine of his points after halftime, as the Bulldogs’ perimeter attack took control of the contest.
Thomas Jefferson’s senior duo of all-tournament selections Jay Ball and Tyler Brouhard carried the Cavaliers to their 33-25 halftime lead with a combined 26 points (Ball 16, Brouhard 10) in the first 16 minutes.
Thomas Jefferson turned a 13-8 deficit in the first quarter into a 27-17 lead in the second with a 19-4 stretch.
Ultimately, though, it was El Dorado Springs who made the game’s largest run, at one point scoring 15 straight points in the third.
Saturday night’s title tilt more than lived up to the expectations of the top two seeds doing battle in the last game of the Gem City Classic.
“That’s a Class 3 school that won a district championship last year,” Myers said. “They returned a lot or all of their players from last year. They’re big, they’re physical, and playing games like this as a Class 1 school will only make us stronger down the road.”
All-tournament selection Kuliath Kephart added 14 points for the Bulldogs, while senior guard Levi Triplett scored eight for the Cavaliers.
Ball and Brouhard finished with 23 and 17 points, respectively. Ball also had 13 rebounds.
Thomas Jefferson went 2-1 in the tournament, defeating Galena 63-51 in the semifinals Wednesday and conference and district rival McAuley Catholic 45-40 in the quarters Monday.
“It was a great tournament,” Myers said. “It was stacked. There were a lot of great teams in the tournament. There was no off night or however you want to say it. Every team was a good team and had a chance to win. These early-season games really help prepare you for conference and district games down the road.
Thomas Jefferson, 4-1 overall and seventh-ranked in Class 1 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, returns to action on Tuesday on the road against Everton.
Bulldog Leaders:
Landon Murry 19 points / 5 rebounds / 3 steals
Kuliath Kephart
14 points / 7 rebounds / 4 deflections
Kaden Burley
6 points / 8 Rebounds / 6 deflections
The Bulldogs had 15 transition points, 18 deflections, and 38 rebounds for the game.
Kuliath Kephart was selected to the All-Tournament Team and Landon Murry was selected MVP for the 2022 Gem City Classic Tournament.
Comments about the Game – Bulldogs Coach Johnson
“The thing that most people may not know about Thomas Jefferson Independent is they were ranked #7 pre-season in Class A basketball. They had a 4-0 record and an amazing post player. Knowing this information ahead of time, I stayed and watched the entire Galena vs Thomas Jefferson game in the second round. I watched the Ball kid score 33 points in the game. Once his hands were on the ball he was either fouled or he scored, sometimes both! I determined then and there, I would not let the Ball kid beat us inside (under the basket). So we put our game plan in place for Ball over the next few days. The game begins and we are down 2 points starting the 2nd quarter. That’s when Burley (Kaden) picked up his 2nd foul and TJI made their run in the 2nd quarter. The Ball kid had 18 at the half. Once the third quarter began, we were on fire! We lit up the scoreboard, out-scoring TJI 23-8 in the third, scoring 15 straight, unanswered points! We only allowed Ball to score 23 points for the game (only 5 points in the 2nd half). We ended up winning the game, and the tournament, 58-53!”
“I was very proud of the team, coming together, learning a new style of basketball, and a new system in a short period of time. Congratulations Bulldogs on a 3-0 start to the season! Now it’s time to get back to work!”
Gem City Classic Results
Title game: El Dorado Springs 58, Thomas Jefferson 53
Third place: Mount Vernon 61, Galena 53
Fifth place: Carthage JV 58, McAuley Catholic 28
Seventh place: Sarcoxie 62, Diamond 51
#3 Sophomore Russ Ferguson and #15 Senior Kaden Burley challenges the shot under the basket while #1 Murry, #0 Ehlers, and #11 Gordon looked on.
Celebrating the Win!
2022-2023 Bulldog Boys Basketball
#1 Junior Landon Murry (MVP) and All-Tournament selection, #2 Senior Kuliath Kephart celebrated as they held the championship trophy from the 2022 Gem City Classic Tournament.
Coach Johnson celebrating a 2022 Gem City Classic Tournament Championship and a (3-0) start to his first season in El Dorado Springs, Missouri!
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