[wpbvideo id=’303574′]
One of the most successful senior classes in Hermitage High School athletics history finally has a district basketball championship to its credit.
Hermitage erased two years’ worth of bad district finals memories by defeating county rival Wheatland 62-52 in the Class 1 District 7 tournament championship game Friday night at Halfway High School.
The victory marks Hermitage’s first district championship in boys’ basketball since 2003 and gives the Hornets a spot in the Class 1 state playoff bracket. The Hornets face Green Ridge (12-11 overall) in the sectional round at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Sedalia’s Smith-Cotton High School.
“All five of us (seniors) came into tonight with one goal in mind, and that was winning this district championship,” said Hermitage senior Jeff Salmon. “We came here the last two years and it’s been heartbreaking losses both years. But we had our minds set that it was not happening this year.
“Third time was the charm.”
Hermitage was denied district championships in 2015 (Macks Creek) and 2016 (Weaubleau), losing in the title game both years. Hornets coach Joe Nicholson remembered a promise his current seniors once made when they were freshmen.
PHOTOS: HERMITAGE VS. WHEATLAND
“The first year I was here, we had an OK season – won 16 games – and those (freshmen) told me then, ‘We’re going to go all the way before we graduate,” Nicholson said. “Honestly, I was looking around thinking, ‘Eh, I’m not sure about that.’ But they’ve put in the work, put in the time.
“I’m more thrilled for them than me because they deserve it. They’ve put in hours and hours of work to get here. This is a huge win for us, huge win for our seniors, huge win for Hermitage.”
Hermitage entered the night already owning two victories against Wheatland this season – including 94-83 on the Mules’ home court last Friday – but the outcome of the third meeting between the Hickory County schools was certainly in doubt late.
The Hornets trailed by six early in the second half, but rallied – on the strength of multiple layups by Dillon Meyer – to take a two-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The Hornets threatened to put the game away early in the final frame, converting consecutive Wheatland turnovers into layups to build a 45-38 with just over five minutes remaining.
“Coughing it up, key possessions here and there, it’s something we don’t normally do,” said Mules coach Brian Pearson. “It hurt us down the stretch. That’s a credit to Hermitage’s defense, too. They’re long, athletic, they get up in you and into gaps. They get hands on passes, get tips.”
Wheatland senior Zac Sutt brought the Mules even by scoring seven unanswered points.
Hermitage answered with a big three-point play by senior Victor Le Verdier and a basket from Darek Reeves to go back in front 50-45 with three minutes remaining and never trailed again.
“Second half, we started speeding the game up. We started getting rebounds and going,” Salmon said.
The Hornets made eight of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Meyer led Hermitage with 21 points and Salmon scored 15.
Sutt scored 22 in his final career high school game. He scored over 2,000 points for his career and Pearson had no shortage of praise for him and his Wheatland teammates.
“It’s hard for a team to see another teammate score that many points per game and not have any jealously,” Pearson said. “We had none. Not one ounce of jealousy throughout the year. They really bought into it. We played off of (Sutt) and it was a credit to the rest of the guys. That’s hard to do – to let a kid get those accolades. He deserves them, but our team deserves a little bit too because we really bought in to what we wanted to do toward the end of the season.”
Wheatland led 19-18 at halftime, leaving Nicholson with mixed feelings and Wheatland’s pregame strategy on target.
“I didn’t know when we were going into the locker room at halftime whether to be happy that we held Wheatland to 19 points, or mad that we only scored 18,” Nicholson said. “I wasn’t sure which one it was. I think our press started to work. I think people started to dig down a little deeper, play a little harder in that press.
Added Pearson: “(Hermitage) had only been held in the 50s once this season, and that’s where we wanted to play. If we could keep the game there, we knew we’d have a chance.”
The Mules finish the season 21-7 overall. Hermitage improved to 26-4, adding to its school-record win total for a single season.
Friday was potentially the last hurrah for a Hornets senior class that broke the previous school record for most single-season wins (22) a few weeks earlier. The 2017 class, along with some co-op help from Wheatland, also had a big role in the Hornets’ winning Class 1 state cross country championships in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
“This was our final go-around and we wanted to go out with a bang,” Salmon said. “We wanted to re-write history. We started that with the new school record for wins and now we finally got the district championship.”
Wheatland 14 5 14 19 — 52
Hermitage 14 4 17 27 — 62
Wheatland – Zac Sutt 22, Tristen Shaddox 14, Devin Koening 10, Hunter Jones 4, Mitch Bigham 2
Hermitage – Dillon Meyer 21, Jeff Salmon 15, Victor Le Verdier 12, Darek Reeves 7, Austin Hostettler 4, Alex Aubuchon 3
