Cardinals perfect in region play

Donn Adamson / Daily Journal Sports Editor

SEDALIA - The Mineral Area College Cardinals have had a fantastic last week to finish off a fantastic regular season with more to come. The Cardinals capped the week off with a 76-59 win over the State Fair Roadrunners, their 14th in a row, to finish 8-0 in Region 16. The first team to go undefeated in nine years.

The Cardinals had jumped four spots in the JUCO Division Poll to being ranked 15 on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Cardinals completed a 6-0 sweep of the MCCA Conference with a win over Meramec, placing three players on the All-Conference team with two honorable mentions.

The Cardinals were challenged for most of the first half with the Roadrunners leading early, but three pointers by Dontavius Jones and Chad Henderson enabled the Cardinals to take the lead and keep it, despite State Fair's constant attacks offensively.

The Cardinals had to keep their lead at the free-throw line which they visited 21 times in the first half, making 16. De'Alan Hicks was 5-6 at the line in the half and went on to lead the team in scoring with 13 points.

Only leading by six at the half, the Cardinals leaped out of the starting gate in the second half with Ricky Claitt and Henderson both hitting threes to help the Cardinals to a 10-2 run, and the game was virtually put away for Mineral Area.

Tony Webb found his target hitting three three-pointers for all nine of his points in the second half. The Cardinals jumped up by as much as 21 points midway in the half, and even though State Fair made several four to six point runs, the home team never really threatened the Cardinals the rest of the way.

Eleven Mineral Area players added to the team's score. The Cardinals finished 21-28 from the line for 75 percent, and led State Fair in rebounding, 38-29.

The Cardinals, 25-4, as the Region 16, No. 1 seed will next play at home against the winner of the State Fair-Moberly game in the tournament semi-finals on Saturday.

Mineral Area 34 42 - 76

State Fair 28 31 - 59

Mineral Area - Hicks 13, Henderson 10, Webb 9, Britton 9, Stuckey 8, Butterfield 7, Claitt 5, D Jones 5, Wilkerson 4, Muse 4, Mata 2.

State Fair - Smith 13, Gumbs 11, G Jones 9, Lewis 9, Weymuth 7, Cox 5, M Jones 3, Noddle 2.

3-Pointers: Webb 3, G Jones 3, Henderson 2, Claitt, D Jones, Cox, M Jones, Weymuth.