Mexico Basketball Takes Three of Four at Kirksville

The Mexico Bulldogs returned the favor to Kirksville Friday night as they took three of four varsity-junior varsity basketball contests on the road at Kirksville. The Tigers had taken three of four from Mexico in Mexico back on December 13th.

The Mexico junior varsity girls were the only Dawgs to taste defeat, losing 45-35/ The junior varsity boys ran their record to 6-0 with a 46-39 victory.

In varsity action, the Mexico girls got the sweep going with a 35-31 win in a defensive affair. Mexico led early 6-2 on a couple of Claire Hudson trey’s to open the first quarter, but Kirksville responded with a 9-0 run to take an 11-6 lead at the end of one. The Dawgs regained some momentum early in the second but still trailed at the half, 17-13.

The teams battled fairly evenly in the third before another Hudson trey just before the end of the quarter knotted the game at 27-all.

Lexie Willer hit two free throws to start the fourth before Kenzie Taylor rebounded a ball underneath the basket and fed a cutting Jordyn Thurman in the paint. Thurman was able to catch and shoot the ball in one motion and Mexico led 31-27. Taylor hit a free throw to extend Mexico’s lead to 32-27. After a Tiger basket cut it to 32-29, Hudson buried a wide-open three from the right elbow that sealed the 35-31 win.

In the nightcap, Jordan Shelton put Mexico up 5-2 early with a couple of drives and the front end of a foul opportunity. Kirksville surged from there and took it’s first lead at 8-7. It would be short-lived. Trailing 11-9, Mexico’s Jaydon Eldridge hit back-to-back trey’s as Mexico answered and held a 15-13 lead. It was a lead they wouldn’t surrender the rest of the way.

The Tigers hit a free throw to start the second before a lay in by PJ Perkins. Then Eldridge hit for back-to-back three’s again to extend the Dawgs to a six-point lead. After a Kirksville basket, Perkins then got a steal and a run-out jam to make it 25-19. After a Keaton Anderson three cut the lead to 25-22, DJ Long got a floater and a layup and then fed Eldridge for a layup off of a drive to put Mexico up 31-22. Mexico led at the half, 36-28.

The third quarter started much the way the first did as Shelton got a steal for a breakaway jam and then hit a reverse layup as he was running the baseline off a feed from Long. MHS had their biggest lead of the night at 40-28. An Anderson trey was answered by Mexico layups by Shelton and Long. Ike Danielson banked a shot home from 12 feet, before Long drove for another finger-roll layup. Kirksville scored the final five points of the third, but still trailed 46-38.

The Tigers trimmed away at the lead in the fourth as an Anderson bucket cut it to six, but Eldridge got a put-back to extend MHS back to eight and the Bulldogs kept Kirksville at bay the rest of the way, hitting just enough free throws, as they closed out a 62-57 win. Mexico, shooting just 53% as a team at the charity stripe, went 6-of-9 in the fourth quarter at the line and finished 8-of-14.

Eldridge led Mexico with 18 points, while Long and Shelton each had 17. Anderson had a game high 31, while Danielson hit for 17.

Mexico improved to 11-5 on the year, 4-1 in the NCMC. Kirksville fell to 11-5 and 4-2 in conference play.