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By Jordan Burton
Springfield, MO – The last time Bolivar stepped on the court competitively they lost a 74-72 double overtime thriller to Helias Catholic. Five days to sit and stew over that loss wasn’t enough apparently…
The Liberators opened the 2016 Blue and Gold Tournament with a 74-47 thrashing of Camenton in Gold Division play. Bolivar held Camdenton scoreless for the entire first quarter, opening a 20-0 lead after eight minutes.
“I think they wanted to be patient and sometimes that’s hard,” said Bolivar coach Robby Hoegh. “On the other side we were patient and our defensive intensity was good. Our focus was great and that’s what you want to see here coming off of Christmas break. I’ve been here for 5 years and it’s not often you see that kind of focus in the opening round so I was really proud of our kids.”
In that first quarter senior Brandon Emmert was able to make his presence felt on the block, opening up the offense for the entire team. The Central Missouri signee scored 10 of his game-high 21 points in the first quarter. His point guard, classmate Conley Garrison, took over in the second quarter by scoring eight of his 15 points.
Emmert and Garrison are each four-year lettermen and find themselves among the all-time leaders in several stat categories.
“It’s not about the Xs and Os, it’s about the Jimmys and Joes and I’m a benefactor when it comes to Bolivar Basketball,” said Hoegh. “I’m a benefactor of parents that have cultivated a love of basketball at a young age and unselfishness. There’s not a coach in the area that wouldn’t like to coach them. It’s fun. We’ve been fortunate to have really good kids that are really good basketball players and buy into what we want.”
Dyllan Decker (15), Isaiah Lumley (12) and Conner Graves (11) all reached double figures for the Lakers.
Camdenton gets Ozark Conference rival Lebanon and Bolivar advances to the quarterfinals to play Willard. The Tigers upset No. 7 Lebanon 62-59.
Bolivar beat Willard by 50, 79-29, in last year’s meeting. The Tigers won their first four games of this season before losing the next four, due in large part to the suspension of junior standout Kenny Chambers.
Chambers scored 17 points against Lebanon on Monday in his first game back in more than a month. Hoegh is excited about Tuesday’s clash with Willard.
“There isn’t a more competitive coach and no one whose teams I like seeing more than Lamont Frazier,” said Hoegh. “He gets those guys to play so hard. You’re going to get a tremendous and intelligent effort for them. Because you don’t get much time to prepare, it’ll be two teams just competing on the court and that’s what this tournament is about.”
