Smith, Bock provide punch as Palmyra takes momentum into own tourney after CCC victory

PALMYRA. Mo. — Mason Smith and Hudson Bock are becoming a formidable one-two scoring punch.

The guards combined to score 31 points in the first half and 53 overall Friday night to help carry the Palmyra boys basketball team to a 72-58 victory over Centralia in the Clarence Cannon Conference opener for both teams.

Smith’s 3-pointer from the right wing broke an 18-all deadlock early in the second quarter, and his subsequent drive through the lane for a basket and a transition layup in quick succession gave Palmyra a five-point cushion.

After Centralia closed within one, Bock scored eight of his 16 first-half points to spark a 13-2 run to close the period and give Palmyra, ranked ninth in the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Class 3 poll, a 39-26 halftime lead.

“We hit our shots and put ourselves in the right position,” said Smith, a 6-foot-3 senior who finished with a game-high 30 points. “We were on straight from the get-go. We had a couple of missed shots, bad shots, but the ones that mattered fell.”

Palmyra, which improved to 12-2, shot a sizzing 58 percent from the field in the first half while making 7 of 13 tries from 3-point range.

Three consecutive 3-pointers — two by Bock and one by Smith — and a driving layup by Pierce White turned an early 9-7 deficit into an 18-11 lead.

Every time Centralia tried to eat into that lead, Palmyra answered.

“I wish we could have had those spurts earlier and sustained them a little bit, but that’s the momentum of the game,” Palmyra coach Brian Rea said. “They’re a good team that’s played a really tough schedule, so it wasn’t like we were going to put them away early.”

Centralia 6-foot-4 forward Anthony Ford kept his team competitive by muscling his way inside. But after he turned a lob pass into a layup to pull his team within 25-24 with a little more than three minutes remaining in the first half, it was all Palmyra.

Free throws by Ryan McKinney and White increased the advantage to 28-24 before Smith sank a 3-pointer from the top of the circle. Bock then added a 3-pointer from the right wing, a traditional three-point play after being fouled on a transition layup and another layup to push the advantage to 13 at halftime.

Centralia managed to close to within 10 points a minute and a half into the third quarter, but Smith and Bock proceeded to combine for Palmyra’s next 10 points to make it 51-36 with 1:58 left in the period.

The backcourt duo scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to give Palmyra its biggest lead at 62-38 with 6:29 remaining. Centralia narrowed the gap in the waning minutes after both teams emptied their benches.

Bock finished with 23 points.

“It’s a good win for us and I’m proud of the boys for their effort,” Rea said.

Palmyra shot 55 percent from the field overall while limiting Centralia to just 22 field goals on 68 attempts (32 percent). The visitors went 8-for-26 from 3-point range and Ford was the only Centralia player in double figures with 18 points.

“We did a better job on defense,” Smith said. “Defense helped us on those little runs.”

Rea was happiest with his team’s free-throw shooting. Palmyra, which had languished below 50 percent accuracy as a team from the line most of the season, made 17 of 25 attempts.

“We were shooting terrible. Our free-throw shooting cost us two games,” the coach said, referring to a 51-47 loss in the championship game of the Monroe City Invitational to the host school and a 66-52 setback to Canton in the semifinals of the Highland Tournament.

“They’re starting to listen, make some adjustments and calm down at the free-throw line. Without the one-and-one anymore, you get two shots. I mean, you have to go up there and make at least one, and we weren’t doing that. That’s demoralizing.

“They’re seeing it go in and they’re getting some confidence, so that should propel us a little bit.”

Palmyra will carry a three-game winning streak into next week’s Tony Lenzini Tournament on its home court.

“Starting conference with a win sets a good path for us,” Smith said. “I think we’re starting to point in the right direction.”