By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
BOLIVAR – The Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers gave St. Elizabeth all it could handle through three quarters before the Hornets pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 54-35 Class 1 quarterfinal victory on Saturday afternoon at Southwest Baptist University.
“St. Elizabeth is obviously a great basketball team – it’s their fourth trip to the final four – so we knew we were going to have to play well to get it done today,” Thomas Jefferson coach Chris Myers said. “We just didn’t shoot the ball well early, which kind of put a lot of pressure on us. I felt like late we were in panic mode, but the kids kept fighting and just didn’t have enough to get it done today.”
Thomas Jefferson’s 6-foot-7 junior Jay Ball was having his way in the first half, scoring 10 points and pulling down seven rebounds, but St. Elizabeth held him scoreless in the third and limited him to four points in the fourth and one rebound in the second half.
The Cavaliers lose six seniors who were part of back-to-back district title teams.
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“We’re obviously very proud of our seniors, you know, coming off 19-6, 19-8, 21-6, and now 22-7 seasons,” Myers said. “Those guys won a lot of basketball games when they were here, but more importantly than that, they showed these other kids the footprint of what it takes to get to this level. That’s what we preach to those kids, just picking right up where these seniors led them to and keeping it moving forward.”
And they will have Ball to build around for next season.
“Absolutely,” Myers said. “Anytime you’ve got a 6-7 kid at any level it’s nice, but in Class 1, it can be real nice.”
Ball led the Cavaliers (22-7) with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Caden Myers, who will be playing baseball at Drury University next year, added 12.
Brock Lucas and Jace Kesel paced St. Elizabeth (20-7) with 14 points apiece.
ST. ELIZABETH 54, THOMAS JEFFERSON INDEPENDENT 35
Class 1 quarterfinal game
THOMAS JEFFERSON INDEPENDENT 9-11-7-10—35
ST. ELIZABETH 14-11-10-19—54
ST. ELIZABETH (18-10) – Caleb Oligschlaeger 11, Isaac Green 6, Brock Lucas 14, Jace Kesel 14, Nickolas Heckemeyer 3, Lane Irwin 6.
THOMAS JEFFERSON INDEPENDENT (22-7) – Drew Goodhope 6, Caden Myers 12, Jacob Jarrett 3, Jay Ball 14.
Up next: Class 1 semifinals – St. Elizabeth vs. South Iron, 6 p.m., March 11 at Hammons Student Center, Missouri State University
