Rivals stand above rest

Staff photo Mike Buhler Jordan Boone, Gideon (left) and Dustin Ferguson, Clarkton [Click to enlarge]

But playing for two schools separated by less than five miles, they're also good friends too.

"It's never been a big deal between us," Ferguson said. "I want to beat Gideon and he wants to beat Clarkton, but me and him, we've been friends for a long time and we've been on the same team. It's a rivalry, but a friendly rivalry too."

Both players were arguably the two best scorers in the Tri-County Conference, leading their respective teams to the top of the league, and that is why they lead our Dandy Dozen Basketball Team as the Daily Dunklin Democrat Players of the Year.

Ferguson's -- and Clarkton's -- success this season was hardly a surprise. Ferguson won TCC Player of the Year honors last season when he was a sophomore and the Reindeer were widely expected to win the conference title and contend for the Class 1, District 1 crown.

And Ferguson didn't disappoint, pumping in 25 points in the Tri-County Conference Tournament finals to hold off Gideon, and scoring 30 points in a victory over Gideon in January that decided the TCC's regular-season crown.

"He's a great player," Boone said. "Me and Dustin are real close. I like playing against him and playing with him too. We play together through summer ball a lot. Every time we play him, I know that I'm going to have to do my best against him because he can go off for 30 or 40 -- it don't matter for him."

However, the 'Deer came up short of playing for the district title, a disappointment that is still with Ferguson.

"It was a good year but it fell short, which we never wanted that to happen," said Ferguson. "But we got some things accomplished. We won the Clarkton Holiday Tournament, the regular-season conference championship and tournament championship. It was just bad that it had to end the way it did. It's a bitter taste not getting to that district championship game (and it) makes us want to work harder next year."

That "bitter taste" was left by Gideon and Boone, as the Bulldogs avenged three regular-season losses to Clarkton by stunning the Reindeer 77-64 in the District 1 semifinals.

As a senior, Boone turned in one of his best performances of the season in that game, scoring 26 points and capitalizing on mismatches with Clarkton to lead his team to victory.

And Gideon's victory wasn't the only surprise of the season served by the Bulldogs. Coming off of a six-win season last year, the 'Dogs rose to the occasion behind Boone and new head coach Daniel Sexton, winning 16 games and finishing second in the Tri-County and in District 1.

"The team this year -- we didn't want to end up like last year, winning six games," said Boone. "We had a goal this year -- we wanted to win at least 15 games and make it to the conference and district finals. We wanted to just prove to everybody that we were a good team, have a good year and we were going to give it our all every night."

And Boone was a big factor in accomplishing those goals, routinely putting up over 20 points per game and making Gideon one of the area's most dangerous teams.

Still, Boone is quick to steer the credit away from himself.

"I give a bunch of credit to my teammates and Coach Sexton," Boone said. "I wouldn't have had the year I had without them."

Also making the Dandy Dozen team were Travis Miller, Boone's teammate at Gideon; Casey Redden and Justin Brown, Clarkton; Jordan Baggett, Campbell; Randrick Caruthers, Kennett; Damien Flowers, Delta C7; Katelyn Gibson, Senath-Hornersville; Dustin Hunter, Senath-Hornersville; William Cooper, Hayti; and Morgan McCormick, Campbell.