Fair Grove fought to the bitter end without its senior star, but Mountain Grove wasn’t willing to play a role in a storybook ending.
Senior D.J. McNew scored a game-high 22 as the Panthers held off Fair Grove down the stretch to prevail 66-61 in a Class 3 quarterfinals matchup Saturday night at Drury’s O’Reilly Family Event Center.
GAME PHOTOS: MOUNTAIN GROVE VS. FAIR GROVE
Mountain Grove advances to the state Final Four for the second time in program history and first time since 2004. The Panthers face Barstow (26-3 overall) at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 10 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
“It doesn’t happen very often. It’s a once in a lifetime experience to go up to Columbia, so it’s something to look forward to,” said Mountain Grove coach Duane Hiler, who was also at the helm for the Panthers’ run to state in 2004.
Clinging to a 60-56 lead, the Panthers forced a pair of Fair Grove turnovers in the final minute to help overcome a pair of one-and-one free throw misses and seal the victory.
“It was important not to lose our composure because (Fair Grove) was trailing us close the whole way,” McNew said. “We had to keep our composure, not get carried away, stay within ourselves.”
The Eagles played much of the second half without senior Kyle Cavanaugh, who fouled out on a controversial play at the 5:09 mark of the third quarter. Playing with three fouls, Cavanaugh was called for a charge on a drive into the lane, then hit with a technical foul for his reaction to the call.
“When you have an all-state player sitting on your bench the whole second half, it kind of hurts a little bit,” said Fair Grove coach Tim Brown. “He reacted to a play that… could’ve maybe (gone) either way. You’ve seen kids react the same way all year. Unfortunately, maybe the nicest kid in Southwest Missouri – you ask any coach or anyone – has to pay the consequences in a quarterfinal game. I hate that for our team, hate that for our kid.
“But Mountain Grove, give them so much credit. They gave us a lot of problems in the second half.”
It wasn’t clear whether Cavanaugh received the technical for slapping the floor or saying something to an official after the call was made.
Cavanaugh finished with 15 points in his final career game, including 14 in the first half. He scored five straight to close the first half as Fair Grove led 39-31 at halftime.
With a big piece suddenly missing from its lineup, the Eagles didn’t cave. Garrett Kesterson (21 points), Evan Fullerton (8 points) and Steven Huskey (8 points) helped keep the Eagles in the game sans-Cavanaugh, who averaged over 20 points per game this season.
The game was tied 51-all going into the fourth quarter, where the Panthers got baskets from McNew, Cade Coffman and Brock Coffman to build a slim lead.
Mountain Grove hit eight 3-pointers in the game, three each by Cade Coffman and Treye Collins.
“They’ve been stepping up all down the stretch here of late,” Hiler said. “Everybody just has their role and they accept it. That’s when you have good teams: when (players) know that and know the team is bigger than their self. These kids do that.”
Collins and Carter Otwell scored 10 apiece for the Panthers, with Brock Coffman and Cade Coffman adding 9 points each.
In addition to losing Cavanaugh, Fair Grove can also look back at missed points on the free throw line and wonder what may have been. The Eagles missed 12 of their 17 free throw attempts in the game.
Fair Grove, which finishes 26-5 overall, was seeking its first trip to state in program history. The Eagles graduate four seniors, including starters Cavanaugh and Mason Kesterson.
“We have a lot of guys in our locker room that are going to be on our team next year,” Brown said. “Hopefully, we can continue to take our program to the next level. We’ve done that with this group. Since they were 7th and 8th graders, we knew we had something special. They’ve continued to build each year and do something our program has never done.”
Fair Grove 66, Mountain Grove 61
Mountain Grove 20 11 20 15 — 66
Fair Grove 19 20 12 10 — 61
Mountain Grove – D.J. McNew 22, Treye Collins 10, Carter Otwell 10, Brock Coffman 9, Cade Coffman 9, Thomas Clifton 6
Fair Grove – Garrett Kesterson 21, Kyle Cavanaugh 15, Evan Fullerton 8, Steven Huskey 8, Mason Kesterson 4, Dalton Cloyd 3, Coby Church 2
