Three Rivers Hot Shooting Stuns No. 15 Mineral Area

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(January 8, 2022)

Poplar Bluff, MO – Neither team got out of the gate very quickly, five minutes in a total of 12 points were on the board. But once Three Rivers started launching threes, the rout was on. With the score tied at 12 just under 13 minutes remaining in the first half, Three Rivers preceded to finish the half on a 35 to 18 run taking a 47-30 advantage into the locker room over visiting Mineral Area.

The Raiders hit nine of the ten 3-pointers they attempted in the first twenty minutes, and ended up going 11-17 (64%) from long range in route to their 83-57 dismantling of the 15th ranked Cardinals (14-4).

One of the consistencies with the Raiders play this year has been their stout “D”. 3R has a defensive scoring average of 65.5 ppg, 35th in the country at DI level. Holding Mineral Area to 57 points is the fewest points a MAC team has scored since a 57-55 victory over Kankakee CC on 3/7/15, and fewest in a loss since 11/30/2013 when Southeastern CC (IA) beat the Cards 64-51.

With the win, the Raiders stand at 9-8, and ended a five game losing streak to Mineral Area. It also put a stop to MAC’s 12 game season win streak.

Raider Head Coach Brian Bess after the win, “We saw some leadership on the floor and that was huge for us (tonight). Our guys believed, the coaches believed.” Bess added, “We were excited that we got a few home games in a row now, after the loss at State Fair, every guy looked at themselves and wondered why weren’t playing to our full potential. At the end of the day, we just beat a very good team.”

Leading Three Rivers to victory was Lamar Wilkerson, who poured in 24 points, grabbed 7 boards, dished out five assists, and had 3 steals. Keith Kiner followed with 14, Kenyon Hodges next with 13 plus 5 steals, and Shannon Strickland ended up with 12. Paul Greene tied Wilkerson with 7 rebounds adding 4 helpers.

Next up for 3Rs is a home tilt on Wednesday with Motlow St, who gave the Raiders a loss earlier in the year.

Mineral Area was led in scoring by Jamir Price and Brett Thompson each posting 13. Kenan Sarvan tossed in 11. The 26 point loss was the worst setback for the Cards since a 91-65 defeat to another Region 16 foe Moberly Area CC in the 2020 Region Championship game.

Mineral Area will return home for a region match on Wednesday with Missouri State-West Plains.

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