By Jordan Burton
Aaron Garner had never played in a district championship game before.
In fact, Pierce City’s freshman point guard can’t even drive himself to games, but that didn’t stop the 5-foot-6 floor general from making the biggest play of his young career on Friday night…
With just seconds remaining in the third quarter, Garner took the inbound pass coast-to-coast following a McAuley score, racing down the floor for a layup just before time expired.
While at the time the two points seemed inconsequential, it ignited a massive Pierce City run, helping the Eagles shock top-seeded McAuley 77-63 in the Class 2 – District 12 championship game hosted by Sarcoxie.
“It was a smart play,” said Pierce City coach Matt Street. “He knew they were in foul trouble and we’re going to guard him really hard right there so he took it straight to the rim. It really ignited our run and it was a big play for us.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“He’s played like that all year. He’s done a great job of handling the ball for us and except for a slight adjustment period, that’s who he’s been all year. He’s started to score more for us recently and now he’s looking to pass and be a threat. Things are different when he’s not out there.”
Garner battled foul trouble for much of the first half, but his bucket at the end of the third quarter tied the game up at 54-all heading into the fourth quarter, this after PC trailed 39-33 at the break.
The fourth quarter was started by an Eagle onslaught.
Mason Moreland cashed a Steph Curry-like three from 23 feet out to give Pierce City a 57-54 advantage. The senior guard then came up with a steal on the ensuing possession which would lead to a Hunter Tindall layup.
The 6-foot-5 junior was just warming up.
Tindall capped the 11-4 run to begin the quarter with a fade away jumper and a steal and breakaway layup, giving Pierce City a 65-58 lead just three minutes into the quarter.
Tindall finished with a team-high 20 points.
“He gives us energy that we can’t get from anywhere else,” said Street. “Everyone feeds off of it and we just play better. It’s huge for us to have a presence like that we can bring off the bench and make an impact.”
Tindall, along with senior bigs Devin Cox and Jordan Cruz, helped stifle McAuley’s offensively-explosive frontline, limiting the Warriors to just 24 second-half points.
McAuley entered Friday night’s game 13-1 when scoring at least 70 points. After a 39-point first half it seemed like the Warriors were well on their way to another big night before Pierce City shackled them in the second half, outscoring them 44-24 after the intermission.
“We didn’t execute very well early on and halftime I told them that we were lucky to be down six when we don’t execute anything that we’ve talked about today,” said Street. “In the second half our big men did a tremendous job of staying at home and rebounding.
“Their point guard does such a good job of finding people, which is why he leads the state in assists, and we kept helping up and he would drop it down for a layup. In the second half we kept them out of the paint as much.”
McAuley graduates a group that won 62 games in the last three years, back-to-back-to-back Ozark 7 titles and consecutive No. 1 seeds in districts.
No group of McAuley seniors in the last two decades has been as accomplished as the 2017 Warriors.
“This group is probably as good or better than any group I’ve ever had,” said Robertson. “They were able to take what we did in practice and apply it in games and that makes you feel good. That’s probably the biggest thing that will always stand out about them.”
Pierce City is back in the playoffs for the third time in the Street Era and for the third time the Eagles will meet Crane in Sectionals.
Crane turbo clocked Pierce City back in 2015, but the Eagles topped Crane in 2013, coming just one field goal short of a Final Four berth that season.
Pierce City has now won seven straight and a group that struggled to identify roles early, including a 71-58 loss to Crane on Dec. 1, is now peaking at the right time of the season.
“This is what I’ve been seeing in this group all year,” said Street. “We knew coming in that we could be a special group, but I wasn’t sure of how special we could be. These kids want to be good and they’re willing to do what it takes to get there.”
“We have such a great mix of kids and it’s kind of started to click and gotten rolling a bit towards the end of the season. We’re going to have our hands full with them. But we’re going to enjoy this, come back and prepare next week and see if we can keep it going.”
Pierce City and Crane will tip off in a boys/girls doubleheader on Wednesday in Carthage with the first game slated for a 6 p.m. tip.
Pierce City 77, McAuley Catholic 63
Pierce City 18-15-21-23 – 77
McAuley 17-22-15-9 – 63
