Eagles soar past Twin Rivers

New Madrid County Central's G'Darius Stevenson looks to pass as teammate William Bledsoe (44) looks on Tuesday night against Twin Rivers.
(Photo by Chris Pobst, Staff)

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NEW MADRID -- The New Madrid County Central Eagles took care of the Twin Rivers Royals 68-37 on Tuesday night with the help of the emerging William Bledsoe.

Bledsoe added a hefty 18 points and was a nice compliment to NMCC's staple post-man Kony Ealy.

"The thing with William is he's starting to hit his layups," NMCC head coach Travis Day said. "Early I think it was more jitters and he was missing those close shots. As the season has went along he's getting more comfortable."

The senior had three offensive rebounds that were each followed by put-backs to go along with his eight points in the first quarter. G'Darius Stevenson was also in the mix in the post adding 14 points and giving the Eagles a third option in the paint.

"I tell William and G'Darius that they have to come along because everybody is going to concentrate on Dontre and Kony," Day said. "They are starting to do that slowly."

Ealy led NMCC with 21 points. He scored 10 in the second quarter when the Eagles jumped out to a 45-17 advantage at the half when both Ealy and Bledsoe combined for four dunks.

"We just try to work together," Bledsoe said about himself and Ealy. "We feel like we're getting better at it everyday."

NMCC, who is now on a five-game winning streak, blazed out of the first quarter as the high intensity pressure defense gave the Royals fits all night. The Eagles allowed just six points in the second quarter with many steals and easy transition baskets.

"We've worked on that in the last couple of days of coming out of the gates playing hard like we're capable of playing," said Day. "And not only doing that at the beginning of the game, but try to put four quarters of it together. We did that for the majority of the game and I think our pressure kind of just wore them down."

After three quarter of play, NMCC had built a 64-27 lead and ensured a mercy clock for the remainder of the game while substitutes from the bench finished the contest.

The Royals had a tough time getting anything going offensively. When they succeeded in getting the ball on their half of the court and averting the stingy Eagles defense, shots were not falling.

"Twin Rivers has always been a team that scares me," Day said. "They're going to play you hard and when they're hitting shots and get their confidence going, they're a good team."

Garret Stockton led the Royals with nine points. Alan-Michael Shearer added eight.

NMCC (9-6) will travel to Dexter on Thursday night to take on their conference foe in their newly opened gymnasium.

TWIN RIVERS (37) -- Garret Stockton 9, Jacob Whitlock 1, Alan-Michael Shearer 8, Garrett McLane 1, Matt Boyles 5, Dustin Teague 2, Mason Oberkramer 5, Cole McBroom 6. FG 13 FT 5-10 F 14. (3-pointers: Stockton 1, Shearer 2, Boyles 1. Fouled out: none.)

NMCC (68) -- Dontre Jenkins 9, Lamonte Nelson 4, Jamareia Jones 2, G'Darius Stevenson 14, Kony Ealy 21, William Bledsoe 18. FG 30 FT 8-15 F 16. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none.)

Junior Varsity

NMCC 64, Twin Rivers 33

The New Madrid County Central junior varsity also scored a victory on Tuesday night with a 64-33 win over Twin Rivers.

Armando Thatch led the Eagles with 15 points while CJ Chism added 14.