By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Springfield, Mo. — Four years. 104 wins. Three-straight final fours.
Mountain Grove’s senior class wrapped up an unprecedented career Saturday with a 67-53 victory over Northwest Academy in the Class 3 third place game.
The Panthers trio of ‘Killer Cs’ — Carter Otwell, Cade Coffman and Conner McNew closed the book on a 31-2 season by avenging last season’s 79-72 semifinal loss to the same team.
While the Cs turned in a strong final showing — the trio combined for 30 points — Mountain Grove’s win was paced by another monster effort from junior Dylan Massey.
Less than 24 hours after dropping a 19-19 performance in the Panthers’ semifinal loss against Charleston, Massey stepped up once again to lead Mountain Grove with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
The 6-foot-4 forward shot 10-12 from the field and connected on a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. Repeatedly throughout the game, Mountain Grove’s attacks at the basket led to wide-open bunnies from the opposite block.
Panthers head coach Duane Hiler pointed to Otwell’s dribble-penetration and solid decision-making as offensive keys.
“Offensively, I thought Carter did an excellent job at breaking them down, and once you broke down the defense, everything else kind of clicked.”
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For his part, Massey made the most of his opportunities.
“Dylan stepped up both games,” Hiler said. “He had 19 rebounds last night — 19 and 19. OK … that doesn’t happen. He’s been in good position, and every time we would crease the lane, [Northwest center Jamarr Williams] would step over to help and, when he did, he left the offside block open. Those are pretty high percentage shots.”
The Panthers defense centered on keeping interior bodies attached to Williams, a 6-foot-7 senior who came into the contest averaging a double-double in points and rebounds. Mountain Grove chose to clog the lane and dare the Hornets to shoot from outside.
It worked.
Northwest shot 37.5% from the field and 4-21 from beyond the arc, which played right into Mountain Grove’s plan.
“I thought the game came down to what we did defensively,” Hiler said. “Our big thing was to control their big kid inside and force them to shoot it; try to take the drive away. I thought we did a very good job on that.”
Both teams battled back and forth in the first three quarters, with the lead changing hands eight times. While Northwest held a 42-41 advantage after three, Massey’s layup 15 seconds into the final period gave Mountain Grove the lead for good.
The Panthers outscored Northwest 26-11 in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to timely defense from Coffman and late free throws from Otwell.
At 6-foot-3, Coffman tallied two critical blocks down the stretch to deny interior scores and turn back the Hornets’ rally.
“Cade kind of got into this, ‘I’ll block your shot’ thing that we don’t really like, but it seemed to be effective,” Hiler said. “He got good angles from the back side, and Dylan did a good job holding his ground.”
“I got a good jump as he was about to shoot,” Coffman said. “It was just good timing.”
Otwell, a 40% free throw shooter this season, also stepped up late for the Panthers by converting 3-of-5 attempts at the line.
“It’s not a secret that I’m not a very good free throw shooter,” Otwell said. “Late in games, we like to put Dawson in for me to shoot free throws. I stepped up and hit a few, l don’t know what I was, like 3-for-5, that’s better than my season average so that’s pretty good.”
The Hornets were led by 16 points from senior Wilshon Warren and 13 from both Williams and senior Damein Carver.
Flanked by the Killer Cs in the post-game interview room, Hiler struggled to keep his composure reflecting on the long, four-year journey. Mountain Grove’s senior class includes Hayden Newberry, Gavin Veach and Charlton Miller.
“This group of seniors is special,” Hiler said. “They won 104 ball games in four years with three final fours and four conference championships. There’s not much left there to do. They’re special to me and always will be.”
McNew attributed the storybook run to the group’s overall camaraderie.
“It’s special,” McNew said. “I’ve played with these guys ever since I moved here in sixth grade. I just love them like brothers, and it’s special to go out like this.”
Class 3 3rd Place Final: Mountain Grove – 67, Transportation and Law – 53
Mountain Grove 13 14 14 26 — 67
Northwest Academy 14 09 19 11 — 53
Mountain Grove scoring: Dylan Massey – 26, Cade Coffman – 12, Carter Otwell – 9, Conner McNew – 9, Hayden Newberry – 6, Dawson Hiler – 5
Northwest Academy scoring: Damein Carver – 16, Wilshon Warren – 13, Jamarr Williams – 13, Rayonte Childs – 4, Antouine Redmon – 4, Damonie Moore – 3
