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By Cody Thorn (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
LIBERTY, Mo. – A pair of state semifinalists from last year played a quarterfinal contest down to the last second and Mid-Buchanan is returning to Springfield.
Skyline, for the first time since 2012, will not be in the Class 2 state semifinals after falling 56-55 on Saturday at the Liberty North Fieldhouse.
The two teams were on opposite sides of the bracket last year and didn’t meet up in Springfield, with Skyline losing in the semifinals and taking third. Mid-Buchanan won its semifinal and then lost in the championship game.
The Tigers had a chance to make it seven straight trips to the Show-Me Showdown but a last second shot missed hit the rim and bounced out.
In three of the four quarters, the team with the lead had only a one-point cushion and in the other, it was only two. The two squads traded punches throughout but a free throw by Jaele Barber, who had had a game-high 19, with 6.4 seconds broke a 55-all tie. She missed her second and with 2 seconds left Skyline coach Kevin Cheek called a timeout.
Out of the time out, the plan was to go to Autumn Garrett in the corner, but she was covered by two players. Freshman Lilly Whitten got the ball, drove into the lane and just missed a layup to end the contest.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Up 28-27 at halftime, Cheek spoke with his young team featuring only two seniors and one junior.
“One of two things will happen,” he said. “We will lose, we will hug and cry and then we will go eat. Or we will win, hug and cry and then we will go eat. Whatever goes down the next 16 minutes won’t define what we got done. I’m proud of this group, as proud of the groups that won state championships.”
In a very methodical fourth quarter, most of the scoring was done early. Jaden Foster’s only basket of the game gave Skyline a four-point lead 25 seconds into the fourth.
Mid-Buchanan (25-5) rallied and hit back-to-back 3s from Brylee Kemper and Cali Bailey to give the Dragons a 45-43 lead. Sophomore Keelie Holmes then answered with a trey for Skyline (19-11) to give the lead back to the Tigers.
Mid-Buchanan got the lead back and it became a cat and mouse game. Skyline would score and Mid-Buchanan would run time off the clock before finally getting fouled. The Dragons had only one other basket after the two 3s, but hit 9 of 14 free throws. The make-and-miss ratio was enough to keep the Dragons ahead until Garrett’s final basket, with 20.4 seconds left, tied the game at 55.
Mid-Buchanan switched defenses throughout the contest and was in man-to-man when Skyline took its final shot. Rod Elms’ squad also used a 2-3 zone and a 1-2-2 zone to try to cause issues for the Tigers, but they kept finding ways to score going to the hoop.
The early success for Skyline came from pressure defense, which in turn, led to turnovers by Mid-Buchanan and easy baskets for the Tigers.
To get ready for that style of play, Elms used eight girls on scout team against his varsity five to get them ready.
“We used to hide how good teams were from this team before, but this time, we told them that Skyline was really good and they went to six final fours in a row and have the tradition and culture we are trying to get,” Elms said. “We showed them film and things. They are beatable. There are things we can do and if we can do, we can beat them. We did that.”
