Two SCA teams will meet to battle for a district title Saturday thanks to their wins in the semi-final round of the Class 3 – District 10 tournament Thursday night. Mountain Grove topped Forsyth, 82-53, and Liberty bested Licking in a last-second finish, 55-54.
(3) Liberty 55, (2) Licking 54
In their third meeting of the season, Licking and Liberty knew there wouldn’t be any surprises, just a hard-fought contest between tough teams.
“This is the third time we’ve played them, so both teams know one another very well,” said Liberty head coach Rob Brown. “They have the two-headed monster, Brady Smith and Nathan Wilson, very tough individuals. Their role players are phenomenal. We knew it would be a close game, and neither one would run the other out of the gym.”
And a battle it was, with the game coming down to the very last second.
The Wildcats led 54-52 with nine seconds remaining in the fourth, after each team put nearly 20 points on the board in the last five minutes of the quarter.
Liberty junior Mathew Coatney pulled down the rebound from a missed Licking free throw and connected with a wide-open Koel Orchard down court. Orchard nailed the three-pointer to give the Eagles the lead with one second remaining. The Wildcats didn’t have time to answer, and Liberty took the win.
Two points separated the teams after one quarter of play, but the Wildcats pulled ahead by five going into the locker room. Foul trouble for both teams made for an uneventful third quarter, but the Eagles managed to cut into the Wildcats’ lead. The final quarter was marked with numerous lead changes and high scoring.
“I was really glad for the way we responded coming out of the half,” said Coach Brown. “We were down five, low-scoring third, 8-5, and then down the stretch Josh Pruett carried us. He had 14 in the fourth and had that not-going-to-lose mentality and put his team on his back and hit some big shots. Then there was Koel with the big three at the end with one second left. He didn’t think about it, knew he was open, squared up and let it fly. We deserved a game like that. It was good for us.”
Josh Pruett led all scorers on the night with 21 points, and said he enjoyed competing against Licking. “They’ve got two who mainly guard me, and I like to try to take it to them. It gets to be kind of a rivalry between us.” Pruett said he thought his team attacked the basket well in the first half, and gained momentum in the final quarter against Licking’s man-to-man defense, carrying that momentum to the end.
Looking forward to Saturday’s game, Pruett said, “We’ve got to come out a lot stronger than we did last time we played Grove.”
Licking head coach Ben Glasgow said third quarter foul trouble that plagued two of his best players was unusual, as Nathan Wilson hadn’t been in foul trouble all year. Otherwise, it was the type of contest he expected.
“We knew it was going to be a close one all the way down to the wire,” he said. “We planned on that, we know it every time we play them. Any time you do that, it’s going to come down to a big play or a big mistake. We can look back at the mistakes we made, free throws missed, and then they made a big shot at the end to capitalize on that. That was the difference.”
Coach Glasgow said he was proud of his players, including Tristan Moreland, who had been out for two weeks with an ankle injury. “Once he got out there and felt some adrenaline, he really played hard. G.T. the freshman stepped up, and of course Nathan and Brady make those big shots and big plays. Dillon had to handle the ball a lot under that pressure, especially when Nathan was out, and we struggled a little bit, but toward the end we stepped up and started getting it to good spots, and they just made one big play on us.”
“It was a good year,” he added. “We were 21-7, and of those 7 losses four were in a row, right at Brady’s injury (concussion). We had a couple of nice streaks, and started 11-1. After the losing streak, we won 8 in a row. But obviously we wanted to get further.”
The Eagles will meet the Mountain Grove Panthers on the Panthers’ home court on Saturday at 6:30 to compete for the district championship title.
“The way it ended gave us some confidence and momentum going into Saturday,” said Coach Brown. “Grove is a load, so we’ll have our hands full to compete. It will be a monumental defensive task to slow them down, get them off the boards, and get some stops. But I love competing against Duane (Hiler). He’s a Willow Springs boy just like I am. So we’ll see what happens.”
MV-BT/Liberty – 55, Licking, 54
Liberty 16 23 31 55
Licking 14 28 33 54
Scoring for Liberty: Josh Pruett, 21; Mathew Coatney, 16; Corbin Dewick, 7; Brenton Bush, 4; Shalin Stout, 4; Koel Orchard, 3.
Scoring for Licking: Nathan Wilson, 19; Brady Smith, 17; Dillon Smith, 9; GT Nicholson, 4; Clabe Sullins, 4; Tristan Morelan, 1.
(1) Mountain Grove 82, (4) Forsyth 53
Mountain Grove opened the contest with the lead, and never looked back. The Panthers led by 12 after the first, and were up by 24 at the half. The top seed and host team maintained scoring in the second half for an 82-53 victory.
“I thought defensively we did a very good job,” said Panthers head coach Duane Hiler. “They had some ways they could have really hurt us, and I thought we did a good job of containing their guards, who are very quick, and they can explode and go to the hole. This best thing is we did a good job on the boards and keeping them off and not giving them second shots.”
Sophomore guard Cade Coffman was a big contributor to the Panther win, connecting on eight from behind the arc for 24 points on the night.
“Cade hit good, quality shots,” said Coach Hiler. “We feel like when we get kids in those situations where they can take those shots, we tell them to take it every time. Cade is a great shooter and a great streak shooter and he got hot tonight.”
Coffman was modest about his performance. “I had God in my hands, really, and that’s it,” he said. “We played pretty good as a team. I hope we win the next one. “
Forsyth head Coach Josh Hart knew his team was in for a battle on the night.
“Mountain Grove is tough,” he said. “They are physical and they showed up ready to play, and we came out a little tentative. We just put ourselves into a worry situation more than anything, and so we kind of shot ourselves in the foot. Mountain Grove is number one in this district for a reason, so if we’re going to lose we want to play the best, and that’s the way we want to go out.”
Forsyth graduates five seniors, including Jett Schanda, who has contributed for four years. Risten Grady is another senior who has been vital for his team inside, and according to his coach, is 6th in Missouri for shots blocked in a single game, earned last year at district time. “His presence alone inside makes a big difference for us,” said Coach Hart. “Another senior, Cade Coleman, will fly under the radar a little bit, but he works his tail off for us.”
The Forsyth Panthers end their season with a 16-11 record.
“If we’re going to take a loss, we want to lose to the best,” said Coach Hart. “This is the game we wanted to get to, and things just didn’t go our way. We have big shoes to fill, but we have a lot of young kids who are ready, and physical and scrappy kind of kids, and that’s what we need,” said Coach Hart. “We will get back to work tomorrow.”
Mountain Grove will now prepare for the championship game on Saturday.
“We know we will have our hands full,” said Coach Hiler. “We are happy to be there and the kids are pumped up. This is a fun time of year for them. “
Mtn. Grove – 82, Forsyth – 53
Mtn. Grove 23 47 66 82
Forsyth 11 23 41 53
Scoring for Mtn. Grove: Cade Coffman, 24; Carter Otwell, 18; Treye Collins, 11; DJ McNew, 10; Thomas Clifton, 8; Brock Coffman, 4; Conner McNew, 2; Gavin Veach, 2; Logan Sheppard, 2; Haydn Marah, 1.
Scoring for Forsyth: Micaiah Rocha, 21; Cade Coleman, 12; Risten Grady, 6; Chase Davidson, 5; Jett Schanda, 4; James Kohn, 2; Bryce Mann, 3.
