HOLCOMB, Mo. -- Risco coach Brandon Blankenship was somewhat concerned his squad might experience a letdown less than 24 hours after knocking off the top-seeded Bernie 60-56 Thursday in a semifinal of the Holcomb Invitational.
"I was a little concerned how we would bounce back after a physical, emotional game last night against Bernie," Blankenship said. "Sometimes it's hard to come back the next night and start hot."
A veteran Risco squad experienced little difficulty getting things going against the Twin Rivers Royals in the championship.
Risco knocked down nine field goals, including four 3-pointers, to build a 26-13 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Twin Rivers cut the deficit to 26-19 without about five minutes left in the first half but never got closer.
No. 4 seeded Risco padded its lead back to double digits at 36-25 by halftime and led by at least that much throughout the second half as it beat third-seeded Twin Rivers 67-45 at Holcomb High School.
"It's always great to get off to a good start in a championship game like we did tonight," Blankenship said. "It just shows the guys were focused and ready to go.
"This is a tough tournament," Blankenship added. "Any of the top four teams could have won it. We had two good games in a row on back-to-back nights. You want to have challenges like this early and we are definitely happy about how this one turned out."
Twin Rivers coach Seth McBroom felt the best stretch of the game for his squad was the second quarter when they outscored Risco 12-10.
"The second quarter was decent," McBroom said. "We tried to do some things we talked about like getting a defensive stop, staying in front of them and working the ball until we could get to the rim. The rest of the game we didn't get those things done."
Risco, which has six seniors on its 12-man roster, displayed the ability to get points from all over the court.
Nathan Burnett knocked down five 2-pointers, three treys and made five of six free throws to pace Risco with 24 points.
Garrett Young added 16 points on seven 2-pointers and two made free throws. Preston Meese scored 10 points on two treys, one 2-pointer and a pair of free throws. EJ Myers contributed seven points in the first half for the Tigers on a pair of two 2-pointers and a trey.
"The majority of our players that play are seniors," Blankenship said. "They've been playing together since the third or fourth game. They know each other well and know where to get the ball to each other."
Hayden Thomas led Twin Rivers with 20 points. He hit three treys, a pair of 2-pointers and made seven of the eight free throws he attempted.
No other Twin Rivers player finished in double digits.
"We dug ourselves an early hole and got in some foul trouble," McBroom said. "We lost our composure. The team that played tonight was not us. People that know our kids know that but that stuff happens sometimes."
Twin Rivers (2-1) beat Bloomfield 67-36 in a quarterfinal and beat Neelyville 53-50 in a semifinal to reach the championship. The Royals return to action Tuesday when they visit Malden.
"There are some good teams in this tournament," McBroom said. "To finish 2-1 and take second place is not bad. It's obviously not what we wanted. We just feel like we are better than we played tonight."
Risco (3-1) will host Oran in an early-season showdown Tuesday night. Oran beat Scott County Central in the championship of its own tournament Friday night.
"It doesn't get any easier," Blankenship said. "Oran (3-0) puts up points in a hurry under Shoemaker. So we will have to get some good practices in and be ready for that."
Bernie 55, Neelyville 35
No. 1 seeded Bernie beat No. 2 seeded Neelyville 55-35 in the third-place game.
(5) Campbell 71,
(6) Bloomfield 45
Sophomore Blake Fowler and junior Jake Vines each had big days in the consolation final at the Holcomb Invitational Friday. Fowler finished with 27 points and made five 3-pointers to help the Camels rout the Wildcats. Vines had a game-high 29 points and seven triples to lead the team. Vines and Fowler combined to score 56 of Campbell's 71 points.
Bloomfield was unable to overcome a slow start. The Wildcats scored 14 points in the first half and were unable to recover. Travis McCullough led the Wildcats with 16 points as the team's only player in double figures.