By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Mountain Grove Panthers won their home tournament Saturday night in a buzzer beater over the Hartville Eagles, 74-72.
The victory will be especially memorable for Panthers head coach Duane Hiler, who also marked his 400th career win.
“My kids won 400 games, I lost 115,” said Coach Hiler, waving off the attention.
Hiler’s team took control of the game in the first quarter, putting up 21 points and limiting Hartville to 8. Cade Coffman got off to a hot start, connecting on three from downtown in the opening frame.
But foul trouble plagued the Panthers in the second quarter while three of their top players rode the bench.
“Two of the three in foul trouble are our best defensive players,” said Hiler, “and it kind of showed.”
Dawson Hiler was clutch in the quarter for Mountain Grove, sinking eight free throws, and Bryce Lauderdale added two threes.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Hartville also had to dig from their bench due to foul trouble in the second.
“Our bench is full of freshmen for the most part, and those guys came in when we were in foul trouble and hit some big shots, got some big stops and rebounds where we needed them to, and that’s a bright spot,” said Hartville head coach Brett Reed.
The Eagles put up 30 points in the quarter, and at the half, Hartville trailed by three, 41-38. At the end of the third, they were down 60-53.
But the Eagles made a run late in the fourth, controlling the boards and connecting on their shots. With 19 seconds left on the clock, Holton Simmons pulled up from behind the arc and drained a three to tie the contest, 72-72.
Hayden Newberry had been in foul trouble and sat out for most of the first two quarters, but in the final seconds of the contest, he became the hero for the Panthers with a basket underneath as time expired, 74-72.
Coach Hiler said Wyatt Ward and each of the Hartville guards caused his team trouble.
“They are so quick and hard to contain and hard to keep away from the basket,” he said. “The Ward kid can score all over the floor. Their size inside hurt us, especially late. They owned the boards and got four in one possession there. And Hartville is scrappy, they play hard, they play it the right way, and Brett does a great job, so that was a quality win.”
“It was a typical Moutain Grove – Hartville basketball game,” he added. “Tooth and nail and usually comes down to the end.”
“Mountain Grove is a very good basketball team and very well-coached,” said Hartville head coach Brett Reed. “I have much respect for the program they have here. They came out and jumped on us early, and had us stymied a little bit. It took us a long time to battle back, but finally with 19 seconds left we tied the game. Looking back, I wish I would have fouled at the end…. of course, hindsight is 20/20. I told the boys they showed a lot of heart to battle back like that, and this one is on me; I wish I had done something different.”
“We want to be deep going into the post season,” said Coach Reed. “Even though we lost, this is a step in the right direction. They won the Blue and Gold; they’re good. They beat us by 13 last time and only by 2 this time, so maybe we’re heading in the right direction.
Hartville takes on Cabool and Dora next week and drops to 16-5 on the season. Mountain Grove is now 18-1 and will face Willow Springs and Salem next week.
All-Tournament Team:
Caleb Peck, Clever
Isaac Haney, Dora
Wyatt Ward, Hartville
Evan Matthews, Hartville
Carter Otwell, Mtn. Grove
Conner McNew, Mtn. Grove
Cade Coffman, Mtn. Grove (MVP)
Mtn. Grove, 74, Hartville, 72
Mtn. Grove 21 20 19 14 – 74
Hartville 8 30 15 19 – 72
Scoring for Mtn. Grove:
Coffman, 19; McNew, 15; Hiler, 11; Newberry, 8; Otwell, 8; Lauderdale, 6; Veach, 5; Felker, 2.
Scoring for Hartville:
W. Ward, 22; Matthews, 14; Piper, 10; Simmons, 9; Kelley, 8; Mahan, 4; B. Ward, 4; Cook, 1.
