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By John Miller (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Ozark, Mo. – Just four weeks ago, the Ozark Tigers lost a game because they missed a free throw with no time remaining. On Tuesday night, they got a little redemption.
Trailing 78-77 with 6.5 seconds remaining, Glendale missed the second of two foul-shots. Payton Nichols’ layup ahead of the final buzzer put the exclamation point on an 80-77 win for the Tigers at Ozark High School.
“It was crazy,” said Ozark forward Parker Hanks, who led the way with 24 points and 10 rebounds. “We’ve been there before on the losing end of that in the Blue and Gold. It feels good.”
It was the Gold Division third-place game against Rogersville when Ozark missed a potential game-tying free throw with no time left. Tuesday night’s finish helped even out the Tigers’ late-game luck.
Nichols finished with 20 points for Ozark, while Quinn Nelson added 18 points and six rebounds. Glendale’s talented duo of Monty Johal and Jordan Walton each scored 23 points. Winston Quinn had 14 points off the bench for the Falcons.
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“I thought we did a lot of things late to (lose the game),” Ozark coach Mark Schweitzer said. “They picked up the pressure late, and I don’t think we handled it well. But our kids battled. Their kids battled. It was a great ballgame between, I think, the two best teams in southwest Missouri.”
Ozark (14-5) held a 76-70 lead with 1:06 to play but struggled to finish the Falcons. Walton banked in a 10-footer, Ozark threw the ball away, and Johal put a layup in that chopped the lead to 76-74 with 30 seconds left.
Nichols drew a foul and converted both free throws, but Johal sliced through Ozark’s defense for a layup with 16 seconds remaining to make it 78-76. Working against Glendale’s full-court defense, Ozark threw an ill-advised cross-court pass to Glendale’s Winston Quinn. With 6.5 seconds left, Quinn was fouled in his own backcourt. Because Glendale was in the double-bonus, he got two free throws and a chance to tie the game. After making the first, Ozark called timeout. The strategy worked. Quinn missed the second, and Ozark got Nichols’ breakaway layup ahead of the horn.
Ozark shot a blistering 66 percent (31-of-47) for the game and 79 percent (15-of-19) after halftime.
“I liked the aggressiveness by Hanks and Nichols,” Schweitzer said. “When those two guys are aggressive, that just helps out Quinn (Nelson). Quinn’s a special player, but he still needs those guys to produce at a high level. I think this is the first night that I’ve got production from all three of those guys at a very high level offensively.”
The Tigers held Glendale to 39 percent (9-of-23) and 2-of-14 from 3-point range in the second half. Overall, Glendale shot 47 percent (23-of-49) from the floor. Ozark also out-rebounded the Falcons 31-18, allowing only four offensive rebounds.
“They crash hard,” Hanks said. “They shoot a lot of threes, so the rebounds come out long. That’s just a focus we had to have – blocking out their shooters. That was a vital part of winning the game.”
Glendale 25 20 14 18 77
Ozark 21 25 18 16 80
Glendale: Johal 23, Walton 23, Quinn 14, Davis 7, Freeman 6, Gilpin 4
Ozark: Hanks 24, Nichols 20, Nelson 18, Elliott 9, Ramsdell 5, Pickering 2, Cooper 1, Skipworth 1
