By Dana Harding
Rogersville, Mo. — Bolivar locked up a third-straight title in the Central Ozarks Conference Small Division Friday night with a 48-47 win over Rogersville, but it wasn’t easy.
Far from it, in fact.
The Liberators overcame an 11-point deficit and needed three huge plays from standout forward Brandon Emmert in the game’s waning moments to escape with the victory.
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Quiet for three quarters of play, the Central Missouri commit erupted in the fourth, scoring 11 of his 19 points in the final frame.
While Emmert was largely held in check on the inside, fellow senior Conley Garrison kept Bolivar in the game with a game-high 21 points and four 3-pointers.
Late in the game, however, when Bolivar need him most, Emmert delivered.
With 2:43 remaining, the 6’6” senior drove along the baseline. Sensing the double-team, Emmert dumped the ball to a cutting Corey Spindler for a wide-open layup.
Spindler’s huge layup (his only basket of the game) tied the score at 44-44 and capped a furious fourth-quarter run for the Liberators, who trailed by as many as 11 points late in the third.
Bolivar head coach Robby Hoegh praised his team’s resilient nature throughout the late-game comeback.
“We got down eleven, but the kids didn’t quit,” Hoegh said. “They maintained their poise and composure, and you expect that out of a group that’s won at least a share of three conference championships in a row and two district titles in a row. We’ve had three overtime losses in that fashion, so winning one like this was good for our kids.”
Perhaps reflective of his own aggressive play down the final stretch, Emmert drew parallels to another recent comeback on the gridiron.
“Honestly, it’s kind of like the Atlanta Falcons and the Patriots thing,” Emmert said. “We’re down, but there was no negatives. We’ve been in those games where we’ve been down, and we know we can’t hit a 15-point shot to put us back up. We’ve got play through it, one possession at a time.”[Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]True to his own words, Emmert went back to work on the very next Bolivar series.
After a pair of Rogersville free throws from Jackson VonBehren helped the Wildcats regain the lead, Emmert grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds and connected on a second put-back attempt to lock up the score, once again.
Still … Rogersville refused to go quietly.
Another free throw, this time from Andrew Scott, put the Wildcats back up on the scoreboard.[Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]With :25 on the clock and Bolivar trailing 47-46, the stage was set for a final push.[Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]Following a timeout, the Liberators drew up a play for Emmert to hit Garrison on a back-door cut, but defensive pressure from Rogersville’s Matt McHenry forced the Bolivar duo to improvise with a textbook give-and-go play from the top of the key.
Emmert gathered Garrison’s return pass at the short wing, spun into traffic and kissed an eight-footer off the glass at :12 for the game’s winning basket.
“I just went and set a ball-pick,” Emmert said. “[Rogersville] hedged really hard, and the rotation was late. I think I threw my shoulder out on the fist-pump, because I was just so happy I didn’t have to shoot two free throws for the win.”
A deep Rogersville 3 at the buzzer missed, sealing Bolivar’s wild, comeback win.
“I think this game will propel us to another level,” Emmert said. “In the past, we’ve had a hard time grinding out games for the win. When we’ve been down, we falter at the end and, when we’ve been up, we just kind of coast. I know now that my team can really follow through at the end.”
For Rogersville and head coach Matt McHenry, the plan to limit Emmert’s touches and keep him outside his comfort zone worked for the first 24 minutes of play; however, the fourth-quarter battle for position turned out a bit differently.
“I think [Emmert] was being really physical on offense and really fighting to get position deep on the block,” McHenry said. “I thought when we had success against him, we were forcing him to catch a couple steps outside the lane, kind of out of his scoring position. Down the stretch, he got those catches on the block and when you have a player that is that good, and that big, it doesn’t matter what you do when he’s able to catch at the block. He’s going to turn and score, for the most part.”
Scott led the Wildcats with 13 points. He was joined in double-figures by Matt McHenry’s 10.
The thrilling late-season finish could yet be a preview of things to come for both teams as each moves closer to postseason play.
With the Class 4 District 9 seedings already in place, No. 1 Bolivar could meet up with No. 3 Rogersville in the final, hosted this season by the Liberators.
Coach Hoegh talked about Bolivar’s home court advantage in the tournament being a mixed blessing, of sorts.
“There’s give and take both ways with that, actually,” Hoegh said. “Bottom line, you’re just trying to play the game as best you can; the game that’s in front of you. You can only control so much. Sometimes you can’t control how the ball goes in, but you can control your effort, your attitude and be a good teammate. That’s what we try to do.”
Both teams are back in action with conference matchups Tuesday, Feb. 21. Bolivar (23-3, 5-0) travels to Reeds Spring, while Rogersville (14-10, 3-2) visits Marshfield.
Varsity final: Bolivar – 48, Rogersville – 47
Bolivar 12 10 10 16 — 48
Rogersville 12 11 17 07 — 47
Bolivar scoring: Conley Garrison – 21, Brandon Emmert – 19, Ian Jones – 3, Connor Sechler – 3, Corey Spindler – 2
Rogersville scoring: Andrew Scott – 13, Matthew McHenry – 10, Luke Vandersnick – 6, Ryker Strong – 6, Karter Wagner – 6, Drew Ritter – 3, Jackson VanBehren – 3
JV final: Bolivar – 39, Rogersville – 29
(Jaden Spindler and Levi Manning – 10 points each)
