CALIFORNIA - The Fulton Hornets were outscored by the Class 3-ranked Southern Boone Eagles 21-16 in the fourth quarter of their 79-71 first-round loss at the 82nd-annual California Tournament late Monday night.
The loss was the third in the last four games for Fulton (5-4), which committed 24 turnovers.
"We had trouble stopping penetration and cutting somebody off in the lane, but turnovers killed us in the end," Hornets head coach Justin Gilmore said Tuesday afternoon. "I felt like the effort and intensity was there, but Southern Boone pressured us (in the fourth quarter) and forced us to move a little faster than what we wanted and we made some bad decisions."
Fulton was down 15-9 after the first quarter, but senior guard Kalin Mitchell broke out for 21 points in the second quarter - including six 3-pointers - in rallying the Hornets to a 38-36 advantage into halftime. Mitchell - who was 7-of-7 from behind the arc in the first half and 7-of-9 overall - tallied 26 of his game-high 32 points in the first 16 minutes.
"Kalin has been one of our best shooters, but he's been struggling from behind the arc," Gilmore said. "We have all the confidence in the world in him. Sometimes when a shooter gets in a slump, they have to shoot their way out."
Mitchell was one of four players to reach double figures for Fulton, which trailed 58-56 to start the fourth quarter. Junior forward Justin Adams posted 11 points, while senior guard Dearyon Estes and senior forward Deangelo Walker supplied 10 apiece before fouling out in the final 8 minutes.
Gage Schupp countered with 21 points to spark four players in double figures for Southern Boone, ranked No. 9 in Class 3 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association. Maguire Scheer was next with 20 points, Spencer Taggart contributed 18 and Gannon Mueller had 15.
The Hornets continued round-robin play against North Central Missouri Conference foe Marshall on Tuesday night. Results were not available at press time.