By DONN ADAMSON\Daily Journal Sports Editor

Published: Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, March 8, 2006 12:00 PM CST

PARK HILLS - The Region 16 Tournament championship is a best of three series, and Tuesday the Mineral Area College Cardinals took the first step to winning the championship with a 78-57 win over the West Plains Grizzlies. The previous two meetings (4OT and 2OT) between the two teams led basketball fans to believe it would be a very tight contest, but it was not to be.

The Cardinals made sure of that. For the most part, the game was decided only 10 minutes into the first half. MAC's blanketing press forced several early turnovers by the Grizzlies, and the Cardinals converted many of them into points to push out to a 31-11 lead. West Plains put on an 8-1 run, but it would be the closest that the visiting team would come for the rest of the game.

The game was more of a run-and-gun style of play for most of the first half, but what was going speedily by became a free-throw-shooting contest for the last five minutes of the half as the Grizzlies challenged the drives of the Cardinals and picked up the fouls, instead. West Plains top-scorer, Tyrone Brazelton, (18.6 ppg.) picked up his third foul and found some bench time for the Grizzlies.

The Cardinals made 11-13 free throws to West Plains five, and the game again took on a 20 -point, blow-out look as MAC finished the half ahead 43-24.

West Plains, which was forced to shoot from the perimeter (3-13) in the first half due to MAC's denying them access to the key, found their mark early in the second half with Ronald White and Charles Robinson both connecting to drop MAC's lead to 15. It would get no closer.

The Cardinals began to click on all cylinders as they scored on a consistent basis, while on defense they allowed West Plains only one shot at the basket, which was usually off the mark.

“It was just defense,” explained Mineral Area head-coach Corey Tate as to why the Cardinals were able to take control of the game early and keep it until the end. “We stuck together as a team, and it was team defense that made it work for us.”

Mineral Area again moved out to a 20-point margin, and it remained 20 for the rest of the game with West Plains having to use the three-ball just to keep pace.

The Cardinals were able to have their way inside on offense as their ball movement constantly found the open man and whenever guards Rickey Claitt and DeAlan Hicks weren't scoring baskets themselves, they would dish the ball underneath to the big men Curtis Muse or Eric Stuckey inside for the lay-up.

Brazelton scored his first points, a conventional three off of an offensive rebound, with 10:40 left in the game. It would be his only points of the game.

“The kid will come back,” said Coach Tate in respect for the Region 16 Player of the Year. “I credit our team as a whole with a great effort of defending him.”

Darryl Butterfield and Muse started the game's scoring with a slam dunk apiece to both score in double figures, and Stuckey led the team in scoring with 13 points. Muse led the team in rebounds with six. White was high scorer for West Plains with 10 points.

The Cardinals shot 50 percent (28-56) from the floor and was 70 percent (19-27) from the free-throw line with only 15 turnovers. The Cardinals were tops in rebounds with 35 to West Plains 25. The Grizzlies shot 35 percent (18-51) from the floor and was 74 percent (14-19) from the line with 20 turnovers.

The two teams will play game two on Thursday at West Plains. If MAC wins they will go on to play on Tuesday at Friday's winner of the Region 24 Tournament, with the winner of that game advancing on to the National Championships in Hutchinson, Kansas. If West Plains should win, then game three will be back at Mineral Area College on Saturday.

West Plains 24 33 - 57

Mineral Area 43 35 - 78

West Plains - White 10, Robinson 9, McLawhorn 8, Collins 7, Boyd 7, Howard 4, Fredrick 3, Brazelton 3, Love 2, Samuels 2, Due 2.

Mineral Area - Stuckey 13, Butterfield 12, Muse 11, Hicks 9, Webb 7, Claitt 6, Henderson 5, Hassell 5, Mata 4, Britton 4, Wilkerson 2.

3-Pointers: Robinson 3, McLawhorn 2, White, Fredrick, Mata, Hassell, Henderson.