By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SENECA, Mo. – Lamar coach Matt Powell admitted he was a little nervous on Saturday night. His team, too.
It showed at the start of the Class 3 District 12 championship game at Seneca High School as the host Indians jumped out to a 7-4 lead.
But the Tigers shook off the nerves and went on to win 51-42, overcoming a 22-3 run in the second half and handing Powell a district title in his first year at the helm.
“Tough kids,” he said. “We came out and I thought we were a little nervous. Quite frankly I was a little nervous but we settled down and had an unbelievable first half. They’re awful tough. They just attacked us right away.”
Down 7-4, Lamar went on an 11-0 run to take control of the game and limited the Indians to just three points in the final 13-plus minutes of the first half. Seneca went 13-straight possessions without a point, while some thundering dunks by Lamar big man Truman Kaderly, a senior, helped set the town.
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Lamar led 25-10 at the half.
The Tigers extended it to 30-10 in the first minute of the third quarter with a three pointer by sophomore Case Tucker and a basket by senior Jonny Jeffries.
After that, the game changed.
Seneca junior Brennen Yust scored with 7:04 left in the third to start a 22-3 run for the Indians. It included a three pointer by junior Layne Henning at the 6:21 mark, a three by senior Gavin Clouse at 3:54 and a three-point play by Yust at 3:43.
Lamar, meanwhile, committed five turnovers in the final few minutes of the third, and saw its lead dwindle to three points by the time it was over.
When Yust grabbed a rebound and scored early in the fourth, Lamar led just 33-32.
“By that time I wasn’t nervous,” Powell said. “I was just trying to coach the kids and settle them down. They were fine. We just had one of those spells. Sometimes we struggle offensively. They went to a zone and we’ve struggled with that all year.”
Kaderly’s basket with 6:59 left in the game put a halt to the run as Seneca went cold again on offense. The Indians missed shots on four possessions and then turned it over on two more, while Lamar received points from junior JD Bishop and Jeffries. Senior Landon Hardman made two free throws with 4:49 left in the game to make it 41-32.
Lamar went up by as many as nine before Seneca got back within six points in the final minute. But Lamar made 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to win it.
“We scored 10 points in a half and you’re going to have trouble winning,” Seneca coach Will King said. “We had trouble getting the ball to go in the hole.
“We made a little switch defensively the third quarter and thought we could make a run,” he said. “We’ve had some good third quarters this year. After the first few baskets to get down 20 then we did make a run. We had some good momentum, the place was crazy, the crowd was crazy, but then we went through a cold spell again.”
Kaderly led Lamar with 14 points and Jeffries scored 13. Hardman added eight.
“Landon was excellent,” Powell said. “Both ends of the floor. I know he had a bunch of rebounds, a handful of steals and he made some big free throws late.”
Seneca junior Preston Armstrong led the Indians with 13 points and Clouse scored 10. Yust finished with nine.
Lamar will play at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Willard against Springfield Catholic in the sectional round.
