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By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
First-timer Wheatland ran into Mound City’s championship pedigree and experience.
Mound City, which won the Class 1 state championship two years ago, defeated Wheatland 49-39 Friday at JQH Arena in a Show-Me Showdown semifinal.
Mound City 6-foot senior Kameron Freemyer led the way with a game-high 22 points and 17 rebounds.
“(Freemyer) is a good player,” said Wheatland coach Jeremiah Bryan. “She’s bigger, stronger. We knew they’d slow the game down and feed it into her as much as they could.”
Mound City had a decisive edge in rebounding (42-28) and second-chance points (14-7).
“They had size on us and every offensive rebound they got, it seemed like they put it back for a score,” Bryan said.
Senior Gracie Fatino led Wheatland with 13 points. Junior Maddie Sutt added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Aleah Asare scored 10.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Mound City (28-3 overall) faces Bradleyville at 2:40 p.m. Saturday at JQH Arena in the Class 1 title game.
“Being in those high-situation or close games, you need to know what to do,” Freemyer said. “We’ve been in quite a few and we know what to do.”
Wheatland (24-6 overall) plays Glasgow for third place at 11 a.m. at Hammons Student Center.
The Mules are competing in the final four for the first time in program history.
“Other than the loss, it’s been a pretty good experience (at state),” Fatino said. “It’s been a fun time, something I’ve always dreamed of experiencing.”
Mound City’s last field goal of the game occurred at the 3:16 mark of the third quarter.
Nursing a double-digit lead for most of the second half, the Panthers went into unofficial clock-kill mode. Mound City sealed the outcome at the free throw line, where it went 18-for-23 overall.
“If you take a minute off every possession when you’re up 11 or 12, I like our chances,” sad Mound City coach Derek Petty. “And if you shoot 18-for-23 at the free throw line – which is what we did – I like our chances, too.”
Both teams had sluggish offenses. The Mules shot 14-for-53 from the field overall, including 3-for-23 on 3-point attempts.
Mound City shot 14-for-41 from the field and committed 19 turnovers.
“I felt like we had numerous good looks, they just didn’t go in,” Bryan said. “We had a few that we forced. We rely on the 3 and getting to the rim and getting fouled. Three-pointers weren’t falling tonight.”
Wheatland was within six points entering the fourth quarter, but never got any closer. Mound City outscored Wheatland 12-4 in the second quarter to take a 26-16 lead into halftime.
Mound City’s coach said he attended the Wheatland-Walnut Grove quarterfinal game in-person and came away impressed with the Mules’ quickness.
“After watching them today, I was right,” Petty said. “They’re quick. Their guards are hard to match up with. They were quicker than us. We had to help off some girls just to stop their drives.”
Wheatland’s first trip to state concludes tomorrow with a third-place game. The memories will last much longer.
“It’s nice to see our community rally around the team. Our send-off (Thursday) was awesome,” Sutt said. “The loss (today) was not.”
Mound City 49, Wheatland 39
Wheatland 12 4 11 12 — 39
Mound City 13 13 7 16 — 49
Wheatland – Gracie Fatino 13, Maddie Sutt 11, Aleah Asare 10, KJ Griffin 3, McKinsey Bryan 2
Mound City – Kameron Freemyer 22, Hannah Wedlock 10, Victoria Nauman 8, Paige Quility 6, Deanna Clayton 3
