CLARKSVILLE, Mo. — Clopton and Louisiana split the titles as the Bulldogs claimed the boy’s championship in dominating fashion on Friday, 55-37.
It’s the fourth time the Bulldogs have won the tournament, with wins in 1997, 1998 and 2015. Coach Matt Boswell called it the biggest win of his career so far.
“I’ve been a head coach now for eight seasons and coaching basketball for 12 years and this was the biggest one. I’m really proud of the guys and I’m really proud we could do this for the community, because I knew it meant a lot to all of us.”
Louisiana’s defense frustrated Clopton throughout the championship and forced over 20 turnovers for the Hawks. Boswell noted the team came into the game with a defense first approach.
“We knew that we had to really sink in and collapse on everything. We were really worried about Larson (Hall) and wanted to make sure we had backside help. We wanted to make sure we were blitzing and double-teaming all those screens,” Boswell explained. “Every game this tournament, we’ve really bought-in on the defensive end and gave a lot of teams difficulty scoring the ball.”
Playing out of the five-seed, Louisiana had to work through higher seeds all week. They took out (4) Wright City in the opening round and dominated top-seed Winfield in the semifinal before another strong performance in the championship.
“We have a lot of pride with the way that we are playing, especially on the defensive end. We understand the seeding because of our record. We had a really difficult first part of the season, but anyone who’s watched us knows we’re a different team than last year. But at the same time we can be better, and I think we showed that this week. We knew we had to start playing faster and use our athleticism,” Boswell noted.
Louisiana junior Javon Ries went off for 26 points to lead the Bulldogs in the championship and was named MVP of the All-Tournament team.
“It’s just hard work and dedication through practice, playing our hardest on every play and building our teamwork. We really worked hard for all this,” Ries told Eagle 102 Sports. “We knew we could compete with any team, and beat any team we put our mind to.”
While Clopton started the championship with an early lead with points from Trey Spoonster and Jacob Harrelson, a three-ball from Quincy Mooney got the Bulldogs rolling halfway through the first quarter. The teams ended the frame tied 9-9. Javon Ries dropped a long three in to start the second quarter, and Louisiana went to work building that lead. The Bulldogs held the Hawks scoreless in the second as Javon Ries ended the first half with 10 with another 5 from Jaylen Ries and four from Donnell Griffith. Louisiana took a 26-9 lead into the break and never looked back.
The Hawks bounced back in the third, but only managed to score evenly with Louisiana, 13-13. The Bulldogs edged Clopton in the final frame, 16-15 to claim the tournament title and hardware.
In addition to Javon Ries, two Clopton players were named to the All-Tournament team, Trey Spoonster and James Matheny. Other members of the team include Luke Lindsay of Silex, Dylan Key of St. Louis and Kaveon Schulte of Wright City.
In the first game of the night, the (6) St. Louis Blue Knights claimed a consolation win over (4) Wright City, 35-23. In the third place game, (3) Silex edged (1) Winfield, 56-51.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Louisiana: 9-17-13-16 – 55
Clopton: 9-0-13-15 – 37
Javon Ries racked up 26 points in the win to lead the Bulldogs; Kane Mayfield, 8; Griffith, 7; Mooney, 6; Jaylen Ries, 5; Will Chidster, 1.
Spoonster led the Hawks with 11 points; Hall, 5; Harrelson, 4; Kaden Wilson, 4; Tucker Salmons, 4; Adam Matheny, 3; Austin McNeese, 2; James Matheny, 2.