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By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Columbia, Mo. — At long last, Walnut Grove boys basketball can call itself state champions.
Early and late, it was Logan Thomazin, hitting four threes in the opening quarter and three in fourth, building a lead and leading a comeback behind 31 points and 10 rebounds.
In the middle, it was defense. Advance’s speed pushed 42 first-half points onto the board, but the Hornets managed just 12 in the third quarter in a 65-62 Walnut Grove victory inside Mizzou Arena.
“What a great game,” Walnut Grove head coach Darren Meinders said. “You couldn’t ask for a better state championship. Two great teams going head to head and battling to the very end. What it came down to is who was going to make the big play late, and our kids made some plays and that’s what took us to where we are.”
In the end, it was a comeback. Trailing 56-49 in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, Walnut Grove (29-4) forgot to keep missing and remembered that they’re the best three-point shooting group in state history.
CLICK HERE FOR ADVANCE VS. WALNUT GROVE PHOTOS
A pair of 3s by Thomazin and a third from Ryan Keith pulled the Tigers even at 58-58 with 2:39 to play. After Advance briefly went back up a point, Thomazin connected from deep again, giving Walnut Grove a 61-59 lead and its first advantage since 30-29 midway into the second quarter.
“I’m just gonna say it again. Shooters shoot. We all get each other open and I just keeping shooting,” Thomazin, whose seven 3s Saturday tied the all-time career 3-pointers made mark with 370, said.
The Tigers spent most of the opening half balancing on the edge of a run, but nearly every bucket by Walnut Grove seemed to be answered by a transition layup from Advance’s Armani Vermillion or Michael Hood.
Vermillion finished with 25 points and Hood contributed 11, but that first-half success wasn’t there in the second half with the pair combining for 29 points in the opening 16 minutes and just seven in the final 16.
“I think our defense was the difference,” Jaron Dishman said. “We all stepped up after keying on [Dawson] Mayo and that really changed the dynamic late in the game.”
Dishman, who missed much of the season with a torn MCL, limited Mayo to 12 points, nearly three under the big man’s season average.
“Jaron was a great leader when he was out then he came back and it was tough for him. He battled and battled and worked. And I kept telling him there would come a time where it’d work. And Mayo is a big boy and he went toe to toe with him,” Meinders said.
Hunter Gilkey did his best Russell Westbrook impression Saturday, bothering Advance in every corner and crevice of Mizzou Arena and finishing with 14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and seven steals.
“Hunter is a bulldog. He’s a gnat. He plays his tail off. You know, he makes mistakes and it frustrates me, but it’s hard to stay too aggravated at him because you know he’s going to come back and do something to help you,” Meinders said.
For Thomazin, Saturday provided a bit of redemption, and he’s not scared to acknowledge it. In last year’s state title game, the then sophomore finished 0-16 from the floor as a part of a 3-31 3-point shooting mark as a team.
Today, Walnut Grove connected on 13 3s and attempted 34, the third-most in state playoff history.
“I just wanted to come out here and show everybody what we’re all about,” Thomazin said. “Last year kind of sucked. I still think about it. But this definitely has a way better taste than last year.”
Advance led Walnut Grove from the 4:04 mark of the second quarter to the 2:39 mark of the fourth quarter, building a lead that got as high as nine.
“Tough game. Tough loss,” Advance head coach Chris Asmus said. “We played hard all the way to the end, they just made a few more shots than we did.
“We didn’t extend enough [on their 3s]. We should’ve been out there on them. We weren’t out there on them and then they made the shots.”
A Dawson Meinders 3 at the end of the first half closed a 42-34 differential to 42-37 for Walnut Grove and another in the third closed a 52-43 gap to 52-46. Those two and the late game-tying 3 by Keith, which came after the sharpshooter started Saturday 1-7 from deep, were three of Saturday’s biggest shots.
“It took every one of us,” Meinders said. “Every one of us did something to help us get here.”
FINAL: Walnut Grove 65, Advance 62
Advance 20 22 12 8- 62
Walnut Grove 24 13 12 16- 65
Advance- Armani Vermillion 25, Dawson Mayo 12, Michael Hood 11, Preston Wuebker 8, Carson Miles 4, Brendan Crader 2
Walnut Grove- Logan Thomazin 31, Hunter Gilkey 14, Dawson Meinders 9, Ryan Keith 6, Jaron Dishman 5
