WEST PLAINS, Mo. — Three Rivers has been focusing on getting the ball in the post. On Friday, Lydell Geffrard reaped the benefits. Geffrard was nearly unstoppable as Three Rivers had 36 points in the paint in a 96-64 win over Neosho County on Friday in the MSU-West Plains Classic in West Plains, Mo. "We beat a nice team here. This little team here is going to beat a lot of teams. They are hard to guard and really well coached," Three Rivers coach Gene Bess said. Geffrard was 6 for 7 shooting and a rebound shy of a doubledouble.
The Raider forward even sank his first 3-pointers of the season and was 4 for 5 on free throws. With him in the post, 3-point shooters Hayden Sprenkel and Willie Lucas found enough room for a double-digit game. Sprenkel was 3 for 5 on 3s and had 11 points while Lucas was 3 for 4 on 3s and 4 for 5 overall for 12 points. Austin Parker added 15 points and five rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench. He shot 50 percent from the floor and was 6 for 6 on free throws.
"I really liked the way Lydell Geffrard played early. I though Jay Hines played well, he just got into foul trouble. Austin Parker played better than he's played all year," Bess said. As a whole, the Raiders (5-3) shot 20 percent better than Neosho and were 18 for 23 (78.3%) on free throws after going 15 for 29 (51.7) in a loss to Kennedy-King on Saturday. "We used that as reinforcements. We didn't want to do that again," Bess said of the Loss. It was Geffrard who powered through the defense for a bucket to give the Raiders a 10-point lead midway through the first half. Rains soon sank a 3 that pushed the lead to 16 points as Three Rivers went on a 10-2 run, and the Raiders went into halftime with a 42-31 lead. Geffrard scored on a third-chance try after an offensive rebound to open the second half.
Moments later, he sank his first 3 of the season — officially making him a 33.3% 3-point shooter — and had Neosho calling for a timeout. Later in the second half, Dionte Raines, appearing in his third game of the season for the Raiders, joined the fun and made his first 3 of the season and is now 1 for 4 on the year. Sprenkel, a more regular 3-point shooter at a team-high 6.4 attempts per game, made a couple from long range as the Raiders pushed their lead to more than 30 points. Torey Carco led Neosho with11 points while Johathan Breland Jr. and Corbett Kimberlin each had 10. Three Rivers will play Cowley at 5 p.m. Saturday to conclude its schedule in the Classic. Cowley is currently averaging 110.4 points per game and scored a season high 131 points against Minnesota Prep. "We're going to have to attack them. We can't let their fast play mesmorize us," Bess said. 'We're going to need to get our ballhandling at their best."
Scott Borkgren - Daily American Republic