With seven games under his belt this season, Belle junior Jesse Wilson is feeling more confident in his ability to shoot from the outside.
And that's a good thing for the Tigers.
Wilson scored a game-high 23 points after going 7-of-10 from behind the 3-point line as Belle claimed a 78-63 win against Tipton at the Missouri National Guard Shootout on Saturday afternoon.
"My teammates found me when I was open," Wilson said. "I was just happy to get the ball and knock some shots down."
The junior guard sank his first six treys for the Tigers (5-2), who were 31-of-48 (64.5 percent) from the field.
"We hit shots today and Jesse had a career day," Belle coach Mike Beeman said. "He hit everything he threw up. He's a good 3-point shooter, but he was just on fire today and that gave us a huge boost."
While Wilson might have had the hot hand, he and Beeman were both quick to credit senior guard Kolton Clark, who helped provide the Tigers with open looks.
"Kolten is quick, he draws a lot of attention and it's hard to stay in front of him," Beeman said. "Him penetrating and drawing defenders makes for a lot of kick-outs for a lot of 3-pointers. He created a lot of that."
Wilson wasn't the only one putting up points.
Mason Price scored 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and helped spark a key run for Belle midway through the third quarter. Clark finished with 16 points and 12 assists, while Tanner Hinson and Thomas Brewer each chipped in nine to help lead to the Tigers' offensive attack.
"We worked really well on offense," Price said. "Our chemistry is getting a lot better. This was probably one of our best games so far just because we worked a lot better as a team. When we struggled on defense, we made sure we came down and made up for it on offense."
Tipton and Belle traded points in the early going, but Wilson knocked down three treys in the opening period to help spark a 9-4 run to end the first quarter with the Tigers leading 22-14.
"We had five or six possessions where we didn't score (in the first quarter)," Tipton coach Billy Jeffries said. "I told our kids after the game, "If you score on each of those possessions, you're up eight or 10.' Things just snowballed from there and we quit hitting shots."
Belle extended its lead to 13 after a 3-point play by Hinson early in the second quarter. Wilson followed by hitting back-to-back 3s to give the Tigers a 40-22 advantage with 1:55 left before halftime.
The Cardinals weren't done fighting. After finding success under the basket, Tipton cut the deficit to eight with five minutes left in the third.
That's when Price took over.
"As a team captain, my coach really looks to me to bring the team back together," Price said. "I kind of looked over at him and he gave me a look like, "You need to step up right now.'"
Price answered the challenged by scoring nine points in the third to give the Tigers a 64-48 lead entering the final period.
Tipton senior Logan Hirst hit back-to-back 3s early in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough the to bring the Cardinals back from a double-digit deficit.
"We played good defense," Beeman said. "(Tipton) is a good team and we made them earn shots."
Tipton's Dylan Cooper scored 20 points, while Logan Hirst added 13 and Aaron Rugen chipped in 12. The Cardinals were 22-of-54 (40 percent) from the field and 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from behind the arc.