By Terri Barker

Staff Writer

District champion boys basketball teams from around the area gathered at Richland High School on Saturday for playoff warmup games. After winning their districts, each team earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs and would not play until the following weekend. Teams in Classes A through 5A participated.

The Melissa Cardinals were paired with the 3A Van Vandals in the third matchup of the day, with Melissa earning a 51-42 win.

Van's defense held Melissa's high-scoring point guard Hondo Webb to only five points, mostly on free throws. But the Vandals had no answer for Zach Helmberger, who tallied 24. Despite the lack of scoring from Webb, he still contributed assists and rebounds.

With Melissa leading by eight, Trent Bazis hit a trey midway through the first quarter to push the lead to 11. It was quickly answered by a Vandal run to pull Van within one to end the period.

Assists by Corey Davidson and Webb allowed Brodie Russell to quickly score two field goals in the second period. The Cards outscored the Vandals by six in the second period and took a seven-point lead into halftime.

Helmberger's two treys, Davidson's two field goals and Ian Hatfield's jumper opened up the scoring in the third period and increased the lead for the Cards, who led 41-29 at the end of the third.

Van made a valiant effort offensively and outscored the Cards by three points in the fourth period, but it was too late to get the win.

Defensively, Ryan Ragon and Mason Hart assisted in the Cardinal win.

M 14 12 15 10 51

V 13 6 10 13 42

Scoring: Zach Helmberger 24, Corey Davidson 8, Brodie Russell 6, Hondo Webb 5, Ian Hatfield 4, Trent Bazis 4