Two things in particular frustrated the Capital City Cavaliers on Tuesday night: Charlie Bronakowski and the full-court press.
Bronakowski finished with a game-high 30 points, and the Boonville Pirates forced 18 turnovers - many coming with their full-court press - to storm past Capital City for an 83-61 win at Capital City High School.
Capital City led 19-16 at the end of the first quarter, but Bronakowski scored 10 points during an 18-0 Boonville run in the second quarter to give the Pirates the lead for good.
"He's the one they really feed off of for energy," Capital City coach Darrin Young said. "When he's at the top of the key like that, his energy dictates the momentum of the game.
"He was able to get turnovers and steals and easy layups. That's the way they rode to victory."
Boonville shot 60 percent from the floor, but the Pirates shot just 43.8 percent in the first quarter, which prevented them often from setting up their full-court press.
Capital City made a trio of 3-pointers in the opening quarter, and Jamisen Schwarzer got a 3 to fall from the right corner with :09 remaining to put the Cavaliers ahead by three points going into the second quarter.
But the Cavaliers had two post players pick up two fouls each in the first quarter, which allowed Boonville the opportunity to drive at the basket in the second quarter.
The Pirates scored all nine field goals at close range and missed just two shots inside the 3-point line in the quarter.
"It was a tall task," Young said. "Even for the guys on the bench who came in, I still feel like they competed to the best of their ability."
Boonville's 18-0 run turned a 21-16 deficit into a 34-21 advantage with 2:13 left before halftime. Cedric Warren ended a five-minute scoring drought for the Cavaliers with one of his game-high five 3-pointers, but the Cavaliers would go into the locker room trailing 38-30 at halftime.
Capital City made tough passes to break Boonville's press in the first half, but the Cavaliers made four consecutive turnovers against the press in the third quarter. That led to an 8-0 Boonville run in a span of 24 seconds to make the score 52-32.
"That's the beauty of a press, is it dictates the pace," Young said. "That's something that our youth are working through, and I feel confident that we'll go back, we'll watch film and we'll see and make reads and adjustments as to what we need to look for when teams do that.
"The biggest thing you take away from this is you see how hard you have to play, regardless of what happens."
Warren hit back-to-back 3s late in the third quarter to pull Capital City within 14 of the lead at 60-46, but Boonville ended the quarter on a 7-0 run to lead 67-46.
Boonville led by 20-plus points for most of the fourth quarter.
"They're buying into a new style," said Boonville coach Mark Anderson, who spent the previous two seasons as head coach of the Jefferson City Jays. "We're getting up and getting after it and getting into passing lanes."
Bronakowski shot 13-of-17 from the floor and added a game-high nine rebounds for Boonville (11-2), whose only losses are to Southern Boone and Blair Oaks. Tyson Franklin added 13 points for the Pirates.
"He plays extremely hard the entire game," Young said of Bronakowski.
Young said his team saw a full-court press against Sedalia Smith-Cotton, but Boonville's was a run-and-jump press, where one player follows the ball wherever it goes.
"The blessing is we've seen a variety of schemes, offensively and defensively," Young said. "Moving forward, our experience level is going to be very high in terms of what we're comfortable with and what we've seen."
Corde Brown led the Cavaliers with 19 points, while Warren added 17 points, making four 3s in the second half.
"He's put a lot of work, coming in early in the morning before school and staying after practice after school to work on his shooting," Young said of Warren.
Tuesday's game could be a preview of a game in the Class 4 District 10 Tournament, which will be hosted by Capital City.
"That's a big factor for us, that we get a chance to play and shoot in this gym and get used to the facility," Anderson said. "It's a beautiful facility, one of the best gyms around."
Capital City (1-9) will host Cuba on Friday.
In the JV game, Capital City defeated Boonville 65-56.