Bulldogs Lose at Midwest Showdown Shootout

The Mexico Bulldogs and St. Louis University High Jr. Billikens met in the second game of the second day of the Ramey Basketball Midwest Showdown Shootout on Saturday in Harrisburg. SLUH (13-7) wasted little time in taking control of the game against a Bulldog squad that looked like it was playing on tired legs.

Both teams had played the night before, SLUH in a 10-point loss to Desmet, and Mexico in a 30-point win over Moberly. The Billikens led 15-11 after the first quarter en route to a 64-51 win, that didn’t feel that close.

It was 19-14 at the 5:09 mark of the second when SLUH’s Landon Pace bullied his way and Charlie Isom-McCall danced his way for back-to-back layups that started a run that put the game out of reach. PJ Perkins momentarily stopped the slide with a layup of his own and he was fouled, but the and-one free throw was short and momentum swung quickly back to the Billikens.

Afterwards, Coach Darren Pappas described St. louis University High as efficient on the offensive end. That efficiency limited the defensive opportunities of the Bulldogs to turn errors into points of their own. It was their offense that struggled most of the night as they scored 11 in the first quarter, 8 in the second and just 6 in the third.

The team did find an offensive spark in the fourth, as sharpshooter Jaydon Eldridge got hot from deep, as they hit for 26 points, but SLUH did what good teams are supposed to do and hit their free throws down the stretch going 12-of-15 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter and 15 of 21 at the charity stripe overall.

Pace, the sophomore son of NFL Hall of Famer Orlando Pace, led the Bills with 17, while Aaron Walker added 14 and 6′-8″ forward Cayman Butler chipped in 11.

For MHS, DJ Long had a team high 17 and Eldridge added 16. The Dawgs were just 6-of-12 at the foul line as the team fell to 13-8 with the loss. They are back in action Monday night for an NCMC contest at home against Marshall.