NEW BLOOMFIELD - The state-ranked New Bloomfield Wildcats almost reached the century mark for the second time this past week in throttling the Tuscumbia Lions 98-57 in Thursday night's Show-Me Conference rampage.
New Bloomfield - coming off a 102-41 home romp over Bunceton last Monday night - raced to a 38-16 lead after one quarter Thursday night. The Wildcats (20-3, 5-1 SMC), ranked No. 10 in Class 2 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, took a 57-27 advantage into halftime and owned a 75-51 lead to open the fourth quarter.
"We were proud of our kids' energy early in the game as we were able to get off to a nice start ... in the first quarter," New Bloomfield head coach Tim Gilmore said. "We were able to get out on the break and run our transition offense.
"That is the big thing we have been stressing the past three weeks of the season; it is nice to see our kids execute very well."
Sophomore forward Jak Kitchens delivered a game-high 19 points and also collected eight rebounds to guide six players in double figures for the Wildcats. Senior guard Derek Shikles was next with 17 points and senior forward Tyler Fennewald posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Senior guard Grant Nichols added 13 points for New Bloomfield, senior guard Jacob Brown finished with 12 and senior forward Leo Ramirez had 10.
"It was also great to see the ball movement that our players had with each other," Gilmore said. "The ball never stuck throughout the game."
Preston McDonell topped Tuscumbia with 17 points and Dave Huddleston contributed 10.
The Wildcats host Russellville in an SMC matchup at 6 p.m. Tuesday.