Cook, a senior guard who broke his school's 51-year-old career scoring record this season, had 25 of those points in the first half as Crane (29-4) took a 31-25 lead, and a 13-6 run in the third quarter put Crane in full command in route to the school's first-ever state championship.
After being up by as many as four midway through the second, Bernie was never able to reclaim the lead in the game. Both teams exploded offensively in the final quarter in combining for 53 points with Crane scoring a whopping 29.
Jordan McGowan led Bernie (26-6) with 23 points and 12 rebounds. He was only six-of-20 from the field overall, five-for-17 from the 3-point line. Cameron Shipman also struggled shooting, making only two of 13 threes and two of 17 overall. Sammy Walker and Jesse Shelton chipped in 15 and 13 points, respectively. Walker also added 11 rebounds.
In stark contrast to Crane taking only 11 threes, Bernie's offense revolved around it with 34 attempts. But Burke had only had eight makes and couldn't come close to stopping Cook, resulting in Bernie's second straight state final defeat.
Both schools are 25 miles or less from the Arkansas border, Crane in southwestern Missouri, Bernie in southeastern Missouri.