Maryville Daily Forum
Monday, March 17, 2014
Sports
Page 7
jlawrence@maryvilledailyforum.com
Hoist the trophy
KEVIN BIRDSELL/DAILY FORUM
Above: Stanberry junior Isaac Heddinger and seniors Nathan Luke and Ryan Jensen celebrate after receiving the Class 1 State Third Place trophy on Friday. Stanberry rebounded from Thursday’s loss to Scott County Central to beat Macks Creek 55-54 in the third place game at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. Right: Jensen flushes a two-handed dunk against Macks Creek in Friday’s Class 1 Third Place win. Jensen finished the game with 10 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Heddinger hit the free throw that sealed the win and finished with seven points and four rebounds while Luke scored 10 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
STANBERRY CLAIMS THIRD PLACE AT STATE Bulldogs rebound to beat Macks Creek, earn second straight trophy By KEVIN BIRDSELL Staff writer
The Stanberry Bulldogs boys’ basketball team held off a furious fourth quarter rally from Macks Creek to sneak by the Pirates and claim the Class 1 State Third Place trophy on Friday at Mizzou Arena. Stanberry stood strong and withstood the run to win the game 55-54. After matching up on Thursday with Scott County Central, a smaller fast team, Stanberry had to completely change its game plan to matchup with the Pirates, who nearly matched the Bulldogs in size. “It was very, very difficult to game plan,” Stanberry coach Nick Groomer said. “We had three or four days to prepare for Scott County and we had less than 24 hours to prepare for Macks Creek. … It was a hard night to prepare. We just had a quick walkthrough this morning. … It was really different. It was a difficult game to get ready for.” The game opened up with Stanberry jumping out early and grabbing a 10-4 lead before Macks Creek took a timeout to keep the
momentum from swinging too far in Stanberry’s favor. After the timeout, Macks Creek pulled back to within three, but Stanberry still led 13-10 after the first quarter. The two teams traded baskets for much of the second quarter as Macks Creek got the score back to even at 24 with under a minute to play until halftime. With 35 seconds left to play in the first half, Macks Creek freshman Cameron Charlton broke every coaches golden rule “don’t foul a jump shooter,” fouling Stanberry sophomore Alex McQuinn as he launched a three-pointer, which went in. McQuinn made the ensuing free throw to complete the rare four-point-play. “That was pretty big,” Groomer said. “I talked to him. If he misses one early, he kind of gets trigger shy. I told him that if he gets open that you’ve got to take some shots, and he hit a big one and makes the free throw. … It was big and gave us a little cushion there. It was the cushion we needed going into halftime.” That rare play put Stanberry up four points going into halftime, 28-24.
The Bulldogs took that extra momentum into halftime and brought it back out with them to outscore the Pirates 13-9 in the third quarter. Stanberry led 41-33 going into the final quarter, and that’s when the Pirates made their move. “Through the third quarter, we just added two here, added one there and just built it up to 10,” Groomer said. “We never felt comfortable. Just a basket here and a free throw there and it’s not as close.” Macks Creek chipped away at the Stanberry lead all throughout the fourth quarter, getting the difference down to three points inside one minute to play. Like the sectional matchup with Wellington-Napoleon, Stanberry junior Isaac Heddinger stepped to the free throw line with eight seconds to play and a chance to put the game out of reach. Heddinger hit one of the two free throws, which sealed the victory. A three-pointer at the buzzer by Macks Creek cut the lead down to one point, but it didn’t matter. Stanberry came away with the 5554 victory. “We played just good enough to
win today,” Groomer said. The win was Stanberry’s 27th win of the season, which is a new school record. “It’s been three pretty good years in a row for us,” Groomer said. “It seems that every year we do some kind of new milestone. They keep finding ways to make us look good, whether we get win record or win streak or anything. They keep finding new things to break.” Sophomore Daniel Hailey, who scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, led Stanberry. On the weekend, Hailey scored a total of 48 points and hauled in 17 rebounds. Hailey said it’s the motivation of playing in the state tournament and everyone that comes out to watch him that drove him to play at the top of his game. Seniors Nathan Luke and Ryan Jensen and McQuinn all added 10 points for the Bulldogs. Jensen also recorded nine rebounds and five blocks. “We were used to that all year,” Groomer said. “Any given night, someone could lead us in scoring. When they concentrate on our bigs and leave guys open, it helps when
they make shots. A lot of times, Isaac (Heddinger) is just the floor general, but he took some shots today that helped us. A lot of times Nathan’s just a defensive specialist, but he always finds a way to luck a three-pointer in. We know what our two bigs are going to do and Alex (McQuinn) from the outside. It was a good team effort today.” The Bulldogs will only lose two seniors, Luke and Jensen. With the core of their team coming back, they have a chance to continue the success they’ve had the last two seasons. “It’s a great feeling,” Luke said. “You can’t beat going out with a win. We would have liked to get first, but getting the third place trophy and coming away with the ‘W’ is a great feeling. … All good things must come to an end, or whatever. But, it’s been fun and it’s good to just go away and come away with a victory.” Stanberry closes its season with a 27-2 record and had the rare opportunity to close the season with a win. “I’ve never ended with a win in my life,” Groomer said. “Doing that is spectacular.”
Athletes of the Week Daniel Hailey
Hailey recorded 48 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots in Stanberry’s two Final Four games at Mizzou Arena, helping the Bulldogs beat Macks Creek for third place.
DeShaun Cooper
Cooper scored 54 points in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, including 25 points and the game-sealing layup over Minnesota StateMankato Sunday night.
Lekiesha McKnight
McKnight earned AllAmerica honors in the shot put at Saturday’s NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in WinstonSalem, N.C. by finishing in seventh place.
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