BOYS BB: Comets bombard Vikings at sectional

FULTON — Caston ratcheted up the pressure early and quickly disposed an outmatched North White team in sectional play Wednesday night.

The Comets had a running clock going for the entire second half in a 69-24 blasting of the Vikings in the first round of the Class 1A Caston Sectional.

“We wanted to come out and pressure the basketball and keep the ball in front,” Caston coach Carl Davis said. “Our guys did not allow them to get comfortable and confident and I thought our guys were ready to go from the start.”

The Comets jumped out to a 29-2 lead after one quarter and 52-11 lead at halftime and sat out some of their starters for the entire second half.

As lopsided as those numbers were, the Vikings actually showed some improvement as they trailed 24-0 after one quarter and 48-2 at halftime in a 66-11 loss to the Comets one month earlier.

“I thought their Friday night game against Faith Christian was the best they played. And really even going back to the Pioneer game the week before that, it’s a team that got better throughout the course of the year,” Davis said. “They’re doing a much better job of moving the basketball and taking care of it, and that’s why coming into this game we knew we had to do a really good job of rotating quickly and putting pressure on the basketball to start.”

Logan Mollenkopf had 18 points and nine rebounds, all in the first half, to lead the Comets (16-7). Lane Hook had 15 points and three steals. Brodie Howard sank three 3-pointers and had 11 points. Gavin Mollenkopf scored nine and Gage Thomas had eight. Owen Chapman had a solid all-around game of three points, five boards, three assists and three steals.

Carson Harness scored two points and dished out four assists. Reed Sommers dished four assists as well. Tucker Woolever and Kaemen Lee chipped in two points apiece.

Caston plays DeMotte Christian (20-4) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a semifinal, following the 6 o’clock game between Tri-County (13-10) and West Central (18-3).