By Allen Hilliard (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Rogersville boys came into Saturday’s Class 4 Final Four match-up with Sullivan looking for their first trip to the basketball final four since 1986.
It is mission accomplished for the Wildcats after beating Sullivan 57-49.
“It amazing. I have always wanted to do this since my freshman year. It is just something I have always wanted to do and I am finally getting there,” Rogersville senior Luke Vandersnick said. “We had to fight for this one to get there and this is what we did.”
Rogersville jumped out to a 15-13 lead after one quarter and a 26-22 lead at the half. Then Sullivan would work its way back into the game with a 15-9 advantage in the third quarter take a 37-35 lead into the fourth quarter.
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The Wildcats would answer the bell with a 22-12 advantage in the fourth quarter to take the game 57-49 and earn a trip to next weekend’s Class 4 final four AT JQH Arena in Springfield on the campus of Missouri State.
“A lot of hard work has paid off for these guys. Sullivan is a great ball club and they are very hard to guard. We might have out-sized them but that was irrelevant,” Rogersville coach John Schaefer said.
The enormity of making a final four will not be lost on these Wildcats.
“We talked about that and the history of Rogersville and the basketball. We wanted to echo to our kids that it’s making history and how important it is and they have an understating that this is a big deal for our community and our school plus our girls are here,” Schaefer said.
Rogersville will face defending Class 4 state champion Grandview in the Class 4 semifinals on at 1:45 p.m. next Friday at JQH Arena.
