Wildcats beat Linn, advance to District 8 semifinals

STURGEON, Mo. - The fifth-seeded New Bloomfield Wildcats defeated the No. 4 Linn Wildcats 51-40 in the opening round of the Class 2, District 8 Tournament on Tuesday night at Sturgeon High School.

New Bloomfield (16-11) previously lost to Linn 53-48 on Jan. 20 in Linn.

"Linn makes it tough to score," New Bloomfield head coach Tim Gilmore said. "I was proud with how much effort we had defensively. That was the key coming into this game after playing them the first time."

New Bloomfield will play the top-seeded, state-ranked Eugene Eagles in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Thursday. The Eagles - who are ranked 10th in the state and previously beat New Bloomfield 92-64 on Feb. 3 in New Bloomfield - advanced after they demolished No. 8 seed Russellville 74-29 in a first-round game on Tuesday.

"Eugene does a phenomenal job scoring," Gilmore said. "We have to make sure we get back defensively, get a hand on people's shots and box out because they shoot the ball really well."

On Tuesday, New Bloomfield led Linn 10-9 after the first quarter and held a 27-19 advantage at halftime. Linn outscored New Bloomfield 12-10 in the third period, but New Bloomfield maintained a 37-31 edge.

Junior forward Jak Kitchens paced New Bloomfield with a game-high 26 points.

Jacob Voss led Linn with nine points.