Prep boys basketball: S-C drops 3rd straight in I-50 rivalry

On the gridiron, the Silver Tiger rivalry has recently tilted in favor of  Smith-Cotton, which has taken pride in raising the famous hardware four of the past five seasons.

But on the hardwood, while there may be no trophy to covet, Warrensburg has gotten the upper hand the past two years in the I-50 rivalry.

That was most evident Friday night.

Clint Smith led four players in double figures with a game-high 21 points and Warrensburg lit the nets on fire with a blazing 63 percent shooting effort (23 for 37) en route to a 74-47 victory over Smith-Cotton on its courtwarming night.

TJ Culler added 15 points, Dakota Jones poured in 13 and Austin Buford chipped in 10 for Warrensburg (15-7, 4-3), which also shot an efficient 22 for 29 from the charity stripe.

Smith-Cotton (7-12, 1-5), meanwhile, shot just 39 percent from the field and went 3 of 15 from beyond the arc and 12 for 20 at the foul line.

There were a few bright spots. Donovan Schnicker led Smith-Cotton with 12 points, Connor Moriarty added 11 and Indaqual Presberry chipped in 10 points and a team-high seven boards for Smith-Cotton, which fell to 3-5 at home after losing their ninth out of 11 games.

That includes a 54-45 loss on Jan. 17 at Warrensburg, a game Smith-Cotton led by 10 in the first half. On Friday, though, Warrensburg wouldn’t need any semblance of a comeback to get the job done.

Aside from a basket from Moriarty to start the contest, Warrensburg never trailed. Aided by the eight turnovers they forced, the visiting Tigers shot 6 of 9 in the first quarter and got five points from Smith and four each from Culler and Buford in the opening eight minutes of play to build a 16-6 lead.

The hot hands continued into the second quarter, which featured three treys from Culler and ended with Warrensburg ahead 35-17.

Out of the locker room, Smith continued to dominate. The 6-foot-5 center poured in eight points in the third quarter, which was nearly matched by Schnicker’s seven points to cut the Warrensburg lead to 51-35 entering the fourth.

But Warrensburg showed no signs of weakness down the stretch, putting a cap on a half where it shot a blazing 12 of 16 from the floor and 12 of 16 from the foul stripe.