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Cats crush Drexel for district crown
By Larry Lewis
DREXEL, Mo. -- The Bronaugh Wildcats waltzed into William D. Gordon Gymnasium, tap danced on the home team Drexel Bobcats and marched away with a district title.
Bronaugh, the second seed, defeated top-seed Drexel 50-31 to claim the MSHSAA Class 2, District 12 championship on Friday night.
"We came up here on their home floor and beat them soundly," said Bronaugh coach Tim Judd, who claimed his second district crown in 10 years at the helm. "I just can't say enough about the effort of our kids and the way they played tonight."
In a dominating performance, the Wildcats trailed the Bobcats only once at 2-0. They set the tone early with a smothering 1-3-1 zone defense that neutralized Drexel's strength, its inside power game.
Judd said it was a late afternoon pre-game decision to go with the zone.
"We are not a zone team," he said, "but after watching them play, we felt their perimeter shooting was a little suspect.
"We thought we could defend better inside and make them hit 3's. Fortunately, they didn't hit enough of them."
The Wildcats held the cold-shooting Bobcats to single-digits in three of the four quarters.
Bronaugh (20-7), with junior swingman Tyler Judd igniting the offense, led 13-6 after the first quarter.
Tyler Judd scored seven points and assisted on two other scores in the period.
With 6-foot-3 postman John Whitworth either snatching rebounds or keeping the ball alive for his teammates to grab, the Wildcats controlled the boards early on. More often than not, they limited Bobcat possessions to a single shot attempt.
Said (Tim) Judd, "We wanted to contest shots, but the main thing is we've got to rebound. We can't give them second chances and putbacks, and we did a pretty good job of that."
The Wildcats extended their lead to 28-17 at the half.
Neither team lit the scoreboard in the third period until about three minutes had elapsed when Bronaugh tallied twice within 30 seconds to push ahead 32-17.
Judd's tough-angle baseline jumper, his sixth point in an eight-point quarter, left the Wildcats up 36-22 after three.
Drexel (20-7) was held to five points in the quarter.
Bronaugh closed out the win primarily from the free-throw line in the final period, hitting 10-of-18 from the stripe.
Judd led the Wildcats with 22 points, while junior guard Alex Gordon had 10. Whitworth added eight; Jack and Will Daniels, four apiece. Mitch Topping chipped in with two.
With a young, untested bench and junior reserve Clinton Driskel out following knee surgery, Bronaugh relies on the above-mentioned six players almost exclusively.
The Cats awaits the winner of Saturday's Class 2, District 11 matchup between Golden City and Weaubleau for Tuesday's sectional game at Lamar, Mo. Game time is set for 8:15 p.m. following the girls game at 6:30.
It's doubtful if they mind who the opponent is, because as (Tim) Judd said, "We're playing with a lot of confidence right now."