December 29, 2025

Puxico Routs Twin Rivers 82-49 at Bloomfield Christmas Tournament Semifinal

The Puxico Indians routed the Twin Rivers Royals 82-49 in the second semifinal game of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Monday night.

Mark J. Sanders

Puxico’s Landan Burchard puts up a reverse layup past Twin Rivers defender Chadyn Bell in the first half of their semifinal game at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Monday, December 29, 2025.Mark J. Sanders

Puxico’s Jett Hancock goes up high for a basket in the first half of their semifinal game against Twin Rivers at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Monday, December 29, 2025.Mark J. Sanders

Twin Rivers’ Axl Wilkerson launches a three-point attempt in the first half of their semifinal game against Puxico at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Monday, December 29, 2025.Mark J. Sanders

Twin Rivers’ Max Johnson puts up a layup under the basket in the first half of their semifinal game against Puxico at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Monday, December 29, 2025.Mark J. Sanders

MARK J. SANDERS

Contributing Writer

The Puxico Indians routed the Twin Rivers Royals 82-49 in the second semifinal game of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament on Monday night.

Puxico now gets the opportunity to defend their title from last year on Tuesday night against Van Buren, who upset Dexter in the first semifinal game.

Twin Rivers kept the game close through the first minutes of the game, but they trailed by ten points after the first quarter, and Puxico threw on the afterburners and ran out to a big lead at the half that would never be challenged. The Indians played tonight like this tournament belongs to them.

Puxico’s leading scorers were Landan Burchard with a game-high 29 points and Jett Hancock with 21 points. Twin Rivers was led by Will Parker, who had 13 points.

The game started slowly with both teams trying to find their offensive touch, and Puxico only led 4-2 after the first three minutes of the game. The Indians took advantage of their aggressive defense to extend their lead to 11-6 at 3:16 and 20-10 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter is when the Indians began to run away with the game thanks to their fast-break offense and a barrage of three pointers from Landan Burchard. Starting the quarter with an 11-2 run, they finished the half with a 41-23 lead.

The 18-point halftime deficit was as close as the Royals would get to Puxico in this game. The Indians started the third quarter with a 13-3 run in the first four minutes to lead 54-26.

Puxico seemed to score on every possession, whether from in the lane or behind the three-point arc, and they outscored Twin Rivers 20-14 for a 61-37 lead going into the final quarter.

The Indians continued to score at will, running their lead up to 80-42 with two minutes remaining, at which point head coach Bryant Fernetti put his bench into the game.

The schedule for Tuesday’s final games has Doniphan vs. Kennett for seventh place at 4 p.m., Malden vs. Bernie for fifth place, Dexter vs. Twin Rivers for third place, and Puxico vs. Van Buren for the championship.