Both Bolivar squads were seeking back-to-back district titles entering the Class 4 – District 13 championship games on Friday. The boys and the girls were able to defend their titles in Clinton, MO, once again punching their tickets to the Class 4 state tournament.
Bolivar Lady Liberators 60, Clinton Cardinals 51
The Bolivar ladies got the ball rolling against the home team Clinton in the opener.
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The start of the second half tilted the scales and, according to head coach Darin Archer, decided the game for Bolivar. The Lady Liberators netted the first eleven points of the third quarter and outscored Clinton 17-6 in the frame.
“We had a good third quarter and were able to stretch the lead a little bit,” Archer said, “which I think was the difference in the ballgame… I felt like in the first half we were very, very nervous and we weren’t making plays we normally make, missing assignments on defense. When you have a full gym like this, it’s awful easy to kind of get lost in the moment. I felt like our girls did a good job at halftime of adjusting to that. To Clinton’s credit they did not go away. We got [the lead] out to thirteen and just kind of stayed in that area the whole game.”
The Cardinals made a push in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to single digits on more than one occasion. But Bolivar was perfect from the charity stripe (20-20) with fourteen free throws coming in the fourth quarter.
“Number one, we’ve got a lot of good shooters,” said Archer, “and we work on free throws every day in practice. I think we were 20-for-20 tonight. We want to get to the free throw line quite a bit. I think in the semifinal game we were 20-for-23 from the free throw line. That’s a big asset for us to have, and that’s something we feel like we can always count on if we can get the game down to a free throw shooting contest, we feel like we’re going to give ourselves a good chance to win.
Sophomore Michelle Gabani delivered 24 points to lead all scorers in the championship game. Seniors Meleah Francka and Kaylie Rothdiener both scored in double figures for the Lady Liberators.
“I know that people were questioning us this year, so it means a lot just to prove them wrong and prove to them what we can do,” said Gabani. “It’s really important for the seniors. I’d love to keep playing with them, and just my whole team. I love them so much.”
Last season, Bolivar beat Nevada 61-37 in the district title game. They advanced to the semifinals in the state tournament and ended up placing third. Defending their district championship was something Coach Archer valued this season.
“This is something that we’ve talked about as a group,” he said. “I don’t think a whole lot of people thought that we could get to this point, but the only group that mattered was the ones that were putting on the uniforms. They were determined. Our seniors have done a great job leading this team, they’re a fantastic group and I just hope that we can keep this thing rolling.”
On March 8, Bolivar will play the winner of District 14 which will be either Grain Valley or Odessa.
Bolivar – 13 – 12 – 17 – 18 – 60
Clinton – 14 – 9 – 6 – 22 – 51
Bolivar – Michelle Gabani 24, Meleah Francka 11, Kaylie Rothdiener 10, Macy Hall 9, Aleena Derossett 4, Reaghan Lesh 2
Clinton – Maddie Huffmaster 16, Adriane Dehn 15, Brittany Miller 6, Anna Mae Wilkerson 6, Hannah Adams 5, Katelyn Keyte 2, Delaney Montonya 1
Bolivar 64, Harrisonville 45
In the nightcap, the Liberators squared off with Harrisonville in a rematch of last year’s district title game in which Bolivar edged the Wildcats 44-40. Friday’s game was less dramatic.
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Bolivar jumped out to 5-0, 11-2 and 29-16 leads in the first half. Thanks to Ryan Byrd’s trey to beat the halftime buzzer, Harrisonville jogged into the locker room down just 29-21. But that’s the closest Harrisonville would get to Bolivar for the rest of the game. Bolivar went on to win by 19.
“I just saw a team that wanted it more than anything, honestly,” said senior guard Bryce Krueger, who led the Liberators with 22 points to match his jersey number. “We got it last year and the feeling was great… Last year when we played them, we knew it wouldn’t be easy. I think we won by four. We were down late in the game and kind of had to claw back, so we knew that we had to come out and give it our all.”
“These guys, all they care about is winning,” said Bolivar coach Robby Hoegh. “All they care about is trying to find the best shot. They don’t care who’s shooting it. It’s a team that at Bolivar, we can use as an example for a long time because of their unselfishness, their competitive nature and just who they are as people.”
Bolivar, now 23-4 on the year, proved why they were to top district seed. They joined their girls team by winning back-to-back district titles.
“When you’re a Class 4 school, Class 5 school, or really anybody, a district title is a big deal and they’re hard to come by,” said Hoegh. “You’re just proud that the kids see some tangible result of their efforts and their commitment to doing things the right way. You’re just happy for the kids.”
Krueger echoed his coach’s sentiment.
“District titles don’t come easy,” he said. “No title in anything comes easy and you have to work for everything you get. You’re not going to get anything easy and if you get anything easy, it’s not worth having. We knew that coming in here and whenever we got the opportunity to play in this championship, we knew we wanted to put it on the line.”
Like the Lady Liberators, the boys made it to the Class 4 semifinals. But unlike the ladies, the boys fell in the third-place game and finished as the fourth-best team in Class 4. Saturday will determine the opponents for both Bolivar squads. The boys will play the winner of Grandview and Raytown South.
“You can’t always control winning and losing, you really can’t,” said Hoegh. “You can control your effort, you can control your attitude, and you can control being a good teammate. There are good teams in Class 4, I mean you can get beat any time out… You’re just happy to see these kids have another moment and another memory that they can look back on and be very, very proud.”
Bolivar – 20 – 9 – 14 – 21 – 64
Harrisonville – 10 – 11 – 5 – 19 – 45
Bolivar – Bryce Krueger 22, Brandon Emmert 19, Conley Garrison 14, Case Jones 4, Anthony McClellan 4, Keaton Larimore 1
Harrisonville – Aaron Prindle 16, Ryan Byrd 11, Parker Peck 9, Mateo Gonzalez 8, Scylar Polk 1
