Talk about an eyesore. In fact, the stat book could have passed for a Harvard chemistry formula gone all wrong: 52 fouls, with the No. 1-ranked team in Class 2 missing 21 of 37 its free throws, while the losing team clanked half of its 26 attempts.
Which means the coaches sugar-coated it, right?
Not. A. Chance.
“For whatever reason, we have not shot (free throws) well in the last few games. I don’t know what it is,” Hartville High School boys basketball coach Brett Reed said. “I don’t know really how to fix it. I think it’s one of those things you go through and you don’t want it to cause a problem mentally. You almost don’t want to talk about it.”
And he was the winning coach. Reed offered those words after the Hartville Eagles survived the visiting Mountain Grove Panthers — and the referee’s whistles – for a 74-64 victory Friday night in a game that may well toughen up both teams for the road ahead.
That had to be one of the positive takeaways for Hartville (12-4), which beefed up its schedule in order to be battle-tested come the postseason. The Eagles then showed their toughness against a Mountain Grove team (12-3) that was ranked in the Class 3 Missouri Basketball Coaches Association poll early in the season.
Ryan Ward and Deric Jones each scored 19 points for Hartville, which saw its 10-point, second-half lead nearly evaporate before Jones and Dune Piper took over down the stretch. Ward fouled out only 62 seconds into the fourth quarter.
“It was a tough game,” said Ward, the senior transfer from Newburg who scored 16 points in the first half. “But we have to fight through adversity. Yeah, we played tough and rough, but we still had to play through it.”
Hartville’s maddening free-throw shooting allowed Mountain Grove to hang around on a night when both teams ordered their guards to drive the lane, resulting in plenty of fouls.
But the Eagles won for a variety of reasons.
Start with Jones and Piper in the fourth quarter, when they combined to score eight points in a 2-minute stretch late in the game.
Among the keys was a three-point play off an alley-oop lay-up – Piper to Jones – that pushed Hartville’s lead to 64-56 with 2:45 left.
It became an enormous momentum-builder because Mountain Grove pulled within 64-61 just 42 seconds later on Haydn Marah’s 3-pointer. Hartville maintained momentum and the lead.
“We drew it up because we knew they wouldn’t be expecting a back-screen,” Jones said of the alley-oop. “We just drew it up hoping to get a score because we hadn’t scored in a while. Dune put up a great pass.”
Hartville’s bench also was a factor.
Wyatt Ward, the headband-wearing sophomore younger brother of Ryan who was everywhere in the JV game, hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:06 left before halftime. It was 34-31 at that point, and Hartville never trailed again.
He also hit one of Hartville’s three 3-pointers immediately after halftime – Ryan and Jones hit the others – as Hartville’s advantage reached 10 points, 47-37, in the third quarter.
“That’s my job,” Wyatt Ward said, “just to come in and hit shots.”
Reed, needing to sit Ryan Ward, also installed sophomore Cody Kelly, a big presence in the lane after Ward got whistled for his third and fourth fouls with 6:29 left in the third quarter. Jace Keith and Kobe Meyer also provided valuable minutes.
“Our entire bench did a great job tonight,” Reed said. “(Wyatt) has gotten a lot better as the season has gone along.”
For Mountain Grove coach Dwayne Hiler, it was difficult to find a silver lining as he hung around the gym.
After his Panthers pulled within 64-61 late in the game, Mountain Grove got out-rebounded twice at the other end on the next possession, saw Hartville score and then itself began rushing shots.
D.J. McNew led Mountain Grove with 18 points, including several picture-perfect, mid-range jumpers that navigated the Panthers back within striking distance. But it wasn’t enough for the Panthers, who suffered from nearly 25 empty possessions after halftime.
“I thought we got out-played. I thought Hartville came out and got after it and we didn’t match the intensity. They’re very well coached,” Hiler said, referring to Hartville building an early 16-6 advantage. “When we cut it to 3, they made the plays to win the ballgame.”
Cade Coffman and Carter Otwell scored 13 and 11, respectively, for Mountain Grove, which may get another opportunity against Hartville next weekend as the Panthers host a tournament.
“I didn’t feel like we played very well, but Mountain Grove had a lot to do with that. They’re a very good basketball team and very well coached,” Reed said. “I think when we look back on this one — I know we did win — but free throws did play a big part. We had an opportunity to put a very, very good basketball team away by making free throws. But we hung our hats on defense and rebounding.”
Hartville 74, Mountain Grove 64
MG 14 19 12 19 – 64
H 20 18 17 19 – 74
Mountain Grove: Coffman 13, Thomas Clifton 5, Brock Coffman 3, Carter Otwell 11, H. Marah 8, D.J. McNew 18, Trey Collins 6,
Hartville: Dune Piper 12, Grant Dedmon 11, Deric Jones 19, Wyatt Ward 11, Ryan Ward 19, Cody Kelly 2.
