By John Patterson

PATCH GROVE - Cassville (5-4, 2-2 SRW) broke a 20-20 tie late in the second quarter with a 13-2 run to take a 33-22 lead they never relinquished  on their way to a 64-48 Six Rivers West conference win over River Ridge (3-7, 1-3 SRW) Jan. 5, at River Ridge.

Coach Chris Earle’s charges could never mount a serious threat the rest of the way.

The first half saw wild swings in scoring, as the visitors used four treys by three different players to take a 20-20 lead.

The Ridge struck back immediately, as they ran off the next 10 points to knot the count 20-20 with 5:15 left in the half.

Four players contributed to the 10 points, Joel Mezera had four of the markers.

Coach Dennis Uppena’s five struck right back with Vince Reynolds hitting a pair of 2-pointers, followed by a 2-pointer by Josh Mumm.

The Comets finished the run with a pair of baskets by Cole Adams and an old-fashioned 3-pointer by Elijah Okey to make it 33-22 Cassville.

The Comets led at the intermission, 33-24.

The home team never got closer than nine points the rest of the way, and trailed by as much as 20 points late in the third session.

The two teams each made 18 2-pointers in the game, but the winners had six 3-pointers to two for the Wolves. The Comets also counted 10-of-13 (77%) free throws to 6-of-11 (54.5%) for the Wolves.

From the field, coach Uppena’s squad made 24-of-46 (52%) shot attempts, including 6-of-15 (40%) from long range.

The Comets were led in scoring by sophomore Ty Kartman, who scored 18 points to go along with six rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Fellow sophomore Cole Adams added 17 points and six boards, while Vince Reynolds finished with 14 points and six boards.

Joel Mezera led the Ridge with 12 points, and Cody Witzig added 11. Sophomore Alex Breuer had 10 rebounds and 10 points.

The Timberwolves shot 36.3 percent on 20-of-55 shot attempts, but they converted only 2-of-13 (15%) treys.

Cassville 64,
River Ridge 48
(from Thursday, Jan. 5)
Cassville    20    13    21    10 - 64
River Ridge    12    12    11    13 - 48
Cassville - Elijah Okey 3, Ty Kartman 18, Vince Reynolds 14, Cole Adams 17, Ryan Kirschbaum 6, Josh Mumm 2, Cody Schwab 4. Totals - 24 10-13 64.
River Ridge - Joel Mezera 12, Cody Witzig 11, Jacob Devlin 3, Zach Raisbeck 4, Andrew Redman 4, Spencer White 4, Alex Breuer 10. Totals - 20 6-11 48.
3-point goals - C: Kartman 2, Adams 2, Kirschbaum 2; RR: Mezera 1, Widzig 1. Team fouls - C: 12; RR: 14. Fouled out - None.