The Waynesville boys came into Wednesday’s sectional against defending Class 5 champion Blue Springs South with one key in mind: slow it down.
"Those guys (Blue Springs South) want to play really fast. We didn't want to get into a high-octane game running up and down with these guys. They are pretty good at it," Waynesville head coach Chris Pilz said.
The strategy worked as the Tigers held the Jaguars to their second-lowest point total of the season, but Waynesville couldn’t come up with enough offense and fell 46-40.
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"We were trying to spread them out and we got a little impatient driving the ball trying to score on the first or second drive. What we needed to do is wait three or four or five drives," Pilz said. "We have been challenged all year long with some size issues. They were able to get their long arms out and hit some balls.”
The game was tied at 18 at the half, but Blue Springs South came out fast extending the lead to 28-20 before Waynesville could respond eventually tying it up at 33 with 4:20 left in the game.
The Jaguars responded again and would put the game away and make it back to the state quarterfinals.
Five players scored for Waynesville and all five were seniors. Joe Johnson led the Tigers in scoring in his final game as a Tiger with 11 points. Cedric Williams had 10 points. Dwayne Morton scored nine, Trey Simpson had six and Reginald Walker had four.
"Their legacy is going to be that they played hard, were able to show up every day, were able to be on time and they gave it everything they could with no guarantees of having success," Pilz said. "I am just happy that I got the opportunity to experience high school basketball with these five guys. I have coached 24 teams now and this might be my favorite team."
KJ Robinson led Blue Springs South and all scorers with 16 points.
The Jaguars will travel to SBU to face Kickapoo at 7:45 on Saturday.
Waynesville girls end magical run with loss to Hickman
The Waynesville girls weren’t supposed to be here.
The Lady Tigers were the fourth seed of four in their own district and knocked off the No. 1 and 2 seeds just to make it to the sectional round.
Their run ended with a 57-45 loss to Columbia Hickman on Wednesday.
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"I am very proud of the girls for the effort they gave (tonight) and especially all season. I told them not to let one game define what you accomplished this season," Waynesville head coach Brittany Matlock said. "Did anyone give us a shot at 19 wins or winning districts? (I said) you went out and proved a lot of people wrong and knocked off some opponents that people didn't think you could."
The game was close in the early going until all-state senior Kallie Bildner picked up her second and third fouls just 70 seconds into the third quarter.
The Lady Tigers trailed by three at 28-25 when she went to the bench with her third foul. By the time she came back five minutes and thirty seconds later, Waynesville trailed by nine and never recovered.
"It is huge (having to sit Bildner). The other girls step up and do the best they can, but that is a key part of our offense and we look to go through her so much," Matlock said. "Hickman smelled blood I guess you could say and jumped on us from there."
Bildner scored 14 points in her final game as a Lady Tiger. Ashton Pilz was the only other Waynesville player in double figures with 12 points.
Virtually all of Hickman’s offensive damage was done by Danni Nichols and Nyjah White who scored 28 and 17 points, respectively, to account for 79-percent of Hickman’s scoring in the game.
Hickman will move on to face Kickapoo at 6 p.m. on Saturday in Bolivar at SBU with a trip to the Class 5 Final Four on the line.
