Risco Tigers clinch second in Tri-County Conference

CAMPBELL-- Risco clinched second place in the Tri-County Conference on Tuesday night, beating Campbell on the road, 67-62.

Greg Landers led the way with 24 points as the Tigers improved to 12-7 on the season.

"This was a big conference win," said Risco coach Brandon Blankenship. "The guys knew what was at stake. I thought our defense was exceptional. Everybody stepped in and contributed something big tonight. It was a total team effort."

Behind Landers, Luke Carter chipped in 14 points and Dustin Patterson contributed 10.

Jared Odem paced Campbell (12-5) with 18 points, followed by Clinton Bader with 15 and Brandon Smith with 10.

Tuesday's win marks a big turnaround for the Tigers, who finished last season with a record of 7-17. They're currently 6-2 in conference play.

"We lost just one player off last year's team, so experience coming back was a big key," explained Blankenship. "We play a whole lot better defense this year and we're in a lot better shape. Last year, they would play with teams for a half, then just run out of gas. We're also a deeper team this year."

Risco won the game without third-leading scorer Kyle Carlisle, who went down last week with a broken hand. He is expected to miss the rest of the season. Carlisle averaged 12 points per game for the Tigers.

Campbell will be back in action on Thursday night, traveling to Scott Central.