STURGEON, Mo. - The third-seeded New Bloomfield Wildcats built a 17-point halftime advantage in downing the No. 2 Sturgeon Bulldogs in the semifinals of the 33rd-annual Sturgeon Tournament on Thursday night.
New Bloomfield (11-7) advanced to a showdown with top-seeded, state-ranked Salisbury in the championship Saturday night. Salisbury - ranked No. 6 in Class 2 - reached the title game by easily handling No. 4 seed New Franklin 57-34 in Thursday night's other semifinal.
Results from Saturday night's game were not available at press time.
The Wildcats raced to a 15-6 edge over Sturgeon after one quarter Thursday night and outscored the Bulldogs 20-12 in the second quarter to widen the gap to 35-18 at the break. New Bloomfield owned a 48-35 advantage to start the fourth quarter.
Junior forward Jak Kitchens tallied a game-high 23 points as the only player in double figures for the Wildcats.
"I felt our biggest key to the game was our defensive effort," New Bloomfield head coach Tim Gilmore said. "Sturgeon shoots the ball very well and we were able to hold them to only one three-pointer made.
"We really focused on closing out on shooters and making sure we had a hand in their face."
Brandon Hatfield paced the Bulldogs with 15 points.