Hartville’s four losses are as many as any other team in the top 10 of Class 2. Considering the Eagles are currently ranked No. 1, that might leave you scratching your head, right?
With losses coming to state-ranked Class 5 Nixa on a buzzer-beater, state-ranked Class 4 St. Joseph’s Lafayette by six, Class 3 Strafford by two and Class 5 Republic by five, it’s easy to understand why Hartville has had a death grip on the No. 1 spot.
And, as if that wasn’t enough, Hartville sent a serious message to the rest of Class 2 on Saturday, blasting Class 2 No. 5 Iberia 69-45 in the CMH Shootout hosted by Southwest Baptist University.
“Being that Iberia is a highly ranked team in Class 2 this gives us some confidence,” said Hartville coach Brett Reed. “I think our schedule has prepared us for these games all year. We’ve played teams like Nixa and others, I don’t want to leave anyone out, but we’ve played some big schools and it’s prepared us for this atmosphere and playing a team of their caliber. We took advantage of it tonight.”
Hartville was rarely challenged on Saturday.
After grabbing a 13-11 lead after the first quarter, the Eagles outscored Iberia 22-9 in the second to take a 35-20 advantage into the break.
Leading the charge was Hartville’s ability to limit 6-foot-10 Missouri Southern signee Dexter Frisbie, holding him scoreless in the second quarter.
He finished with just 12 points.
“The plan was to hope he doesn’t kill us,” said Frisbie. “He’s a great player and super big, while we’re a bunch of short guys. Ryan did a good job and our backside help was great. We had to try to get to the ball before it got to his hands because if he catches he’s going to score. We did a good job of getting some deflections and pressuring the basketball to make it a tougher entry pass. Our kids did a good job of following the gameplan.”
Hartville started the second half with a haymaker, using a Dune Piper steal and layup to ignite an 11-2 run in the opening minutes of the third quarter.
Piper’s bucket was followed by a trio of 3s, with Ryan Ward and Grant Dedmon going back-to-back before Ward capped the run with a deep 3 right in front of his bench, giving the Eagles a 46-22 lead.
“We always talk about the first three minutes of the second half being really important; they are going to dictate a lot of how the rest of the game is going to go,” said Reed. “If you jump on a team you can put them away and if you don’t then you let them back in it. Our kids have been making big plays and big shots all year long and they did that again tonight.”
Hartville outscored Iberia 21-13 in the fourth quarter, going 14-for-18 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
The win gives the Eagles seven straight wins heading into Tuesday’s showdown with rival Conway that will likely decide the Summit championship. Hartville won last year’s game 52-45.
“Anytime you get a win over a program like Iberia it’s a big win,” said Reed. “Our kids really played well tonight. Iberia is well coached and a good program; it’s just a big win for us.”
