By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
WILLARD – After Kickapoo beat Bolivar by 34 points to clinch the Ozark Conference title on the final day of the regular season, Liberators coach Robby Hoegh was quick to find the silver lining.
He noted last year’s Liberators entered the playoffs immediately after three straight blowout losses, but those lackluster results ultimately fueled a run to the state championship game.
After Tuesday night, the Liberators certainly look like a team that could do that again.
Lukas Gabani scored 17 points to lead three players in double figures as Bolivar cruised to a 61-22 statement victory over Neosho in a Class 5 District 6 semifinal at Willard High School.
The Liberators (24-4) and Wildcats (17-11) both entered the game as state-ranked teams, though No. 3 Bolivar held No. 9 Neosho to just 11 points in each half to set up a showdown with No. 8 Parkview for the district title. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday in Willard.
Since falling to Kickapoo on Friday night, the Liberators have outscored their two district opponents by a combined score of 135-45. They are eyeing a second straight district title.
“We’re just leaving it all out there on the floor,” Gabani said. “We love each other and we don’t want it to end. We’re just playing our hardest.”
Kyle Pock and Cooper Cribbs added 15 points apiece for Bolivar, which used its size to its advantage. They found success by working the ball inside to Josh Bowes (6-foot-6) and Gabani (6-foot-7), who either scored in the paint or found an open shooter behind the arc.
Cribbs made five of the team’s eight 3-pointers, many on wide-open looks.
“We like when we take care of the basketball, we get the ball inside and we play inside out,” Hoegh said. “Those threes that we took were no-brainer threes and I’m sure we shot a very high percentage, but that’s because it was 10 toes to the basket. Those are the kind of threes we want. We work on getting the ball to that post each and every day and they did that. Whether they were in a zone or man, we just ate up a lot of space in the paint.”
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Pock, a 6-foot-7 guard, picked up early fouls and played sparingly in the first half. Cribbs and Gabani made up the difference, combining for 21 points as Bolivar led 28-11 at halftime. The Liberators then outscored Neosho 24-6 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
“We just want to win,” Cribbs said. “I believe that’s why we’ve had so much success this year. We all score and we know how to do it. Kyle got in foul trouble early, so we knew we had to take that next step. Some of us had to score. Some of us had to pass. We just know how to play with one another and without one another at some times. We really feed off each other very well.”
Bolivar’s skillset proves troublesome for most teams on a normal night.
But after last week, there’s a whole new level of difficulty. Only three days before the Kickapoo game, Bolivar suffered a 10-point non-conference loss to Helias Catholic.
“We haven’t gotten much of a break at all,” Gabani said. “We came off those losses last week and I think it just lit a fire under us and really heated us up. We’re just ready to play.”
Neosho had not scored fewer than 48 points in any game this season.
Bolivar held the Wildcats to less than half of that – in a district semifinal, nonetheless.
“They are very well-coached,” Neosho coach Zane Culp said. “They know exactly what their jobs are and they did it — and they’re just huge. When you start 6-foot-7, 6-foot-7, 6-foot-6, 6-foot-5 and they’re all really good at basketball, that just makes it really tough. They’re one of the best two or three teams we’ve played, if you include Nixa in there. I foresee them going as far as anybody could. I guess they proved that last year by going to the state championship game. I think they’re a great team. We just ran into them on the wrong night at the wrong time. But, if you’re going out, you want to go out against one of the best teams.”
Because the Missouri State High School Activities Association moved Class 5 and Class 6 into larger districts this year, District 6 turned into what is arguably the toughest in the state.
It’s the only boys district in any class that began the playoffs with four-state ranked teams – Bolivar, Neosho, Parkview and No. 6 Webb City – though Clases 1-4 have fewer teams.
Should the Liberators ultimately win the district, it would further fuel their fire.
“It helps us mentally – and even us physically – a lot knowing that we’re going against the best of the best right in the area,” Cribbs said. “If we were to make it past Friday night, we know that we have a good as chance as any against anybody else because we’re facing four of the top teams in the state right now. It’s a big confidence boost for us.”
But reviews are mixed. In previous years, a Bolivar-Neosho matchup would not have happened until the sectional round – if at all. Instead, the Wildcats are going home in the district semifinal.
“I would much prefer them (go) back to the four-team district – and not because obviously we just got pummeled by Bolivar,” Culp said. “If this would have just been split into two four-team districts, we would have played the teams around us – Webb City, Carl Junction and McDonald County. Right now, it makes it hard for the districts in my opinion because you don’t even play half the teams and then you go into the district seed meeting and you haven’t played half the teams. Not a big fan of it, but it is what it is. But, to get to your ultimate goal, you still have to go through the teams. So, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.”
But Culp said there’s still much to be proud of, noting the team won more games this year than any season since 2003. Though all-state candidate K’dyn Waters is graduating, eight juniors will return.
The Liberators, meanwhile, set their sights on their own return to the state tournament. All that stands in their way is Parkview, a team they defeated by 16 points in January.
“They’ve got outstanding players,” Hoegh said. “We’re going to gear up, get ready tomorrow in practice, tighten things up on Thursday then come out on Friday and give it a go.”
