Maryville defense stymies Rock Bridge shooters.
LIBERTY — Rock Bridge got upset by a school one-third its size Saturday night.
The seventh-seeded Maryville Spoofhounds, upset the second-seeded Bruins 47-35 in the first round of the William Jewell Holiday Basketball Classic.
“My own team surprised me,” Rock Bridge coach Jim Scanlon said.
The Spoofhounds, who play in Class 3, handled Rock Bridge, which is in Class 5.
“I was happy the way we played against a good team,” Maryville coach Mike Kuwitzky said.
Maryville (7-0) used a tough defense that constantly did not allow the Bruins (4-3) to have open shots.
“If I had a solution to the problem, I would have fixed it,” Scanlon said.
Scanlon and the Bruins couldn’t solve the Spoofhounds’ defense.
“We came out and ran our game plan,” Maryville junior Josh Wilmes said. “We did a real good job of blocking out and defending up top.”
Wilmes finished with a game-high 14 points.
The Bruins started the game with a seven-point run in the first four minutes. Then the Spoofhounds went on a 17-point run to go up 17-7 2 1/2 minutes into the second quarter.
At the first half buzzer, Maryville junior Syd Brisbane hit a running 3-pointer to send the Spoofhounds to the locker room up 24-14.
The Bruins started the second half with a 7-2 run to close the Spoofhound lead to 26-21 and also got within 36-33 early in the fourth quarter.
“It got real tight there,” Kuwitzky said. “We just had to calm down.”
Rock Bridge will play Hickman Mills in the consolation bracket at 10:30 a.m. Monday in the Mabee Center on the campus of William Jewell College.