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By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
BOLIVAR – Springfield Catholic will be doing some redecorating.
After a season-ending, double-overtime loss to Bolivar in the state quarterfinals last year, the Fightin’ Irish made a sign displaying the game’s final score and placed it in their locker room.
The goal was to provide some season-long motivation that would hopefully prevent them from suffering a similar fate this year and propel them to the school’s first Final Four since 2019.
Mission accomplished.
Zach Howell led three players in double-figures with 18 points as the Fightin’ Irish got long-awaited revenge on the Liberators and punched their ticket to the Final Four with their 53-47 victory in a Class 5 quarterfinal on Saturday afternoon at the Meyer Wellness Center.
Liam O’Reilly added 17 points and Ty Lyon had 12 for Catholic, which improved to 24-6 and will face District 7 champion Helias Catholic (17-13) in a semifinal at 8 p.m. Friday at JQH Arena.
But first, they’ll be dealing with the sign.
“I think we’re going to rip that one up whenever we get back to the locker room,” Catholic coach Jack Simpson said. “That sign is definitely coming down.”
Strange as it may seem, the Fightin’ Irish haven’t spent all that much time in their home locker room this season. With a tournament-heavy schedule, they have played just six home games.
They’ve already played seven games at JQH Arena this season, reaching the championship game of the Blue & Gold Tournament and going winless as a last-minute addition to the Tournament of Champions. By reaching the Final Four, they’ve guaranteed themselves another.
“We feel like that’s an advantage for us,” Simpson said. “We’re extremely happy to get back to ‘The Q’. We’re happy to get out of Bolivar, I know that. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a gym that loud.”
Saturday’s game at the Meyer Wellness Center was essentially a home game for Bolivar, as the high school sits about three miles from the Southwest Baptist University campus. The majority of the standing-room only crowd was cheering for the hometown Liberators, who finished as the Class 5 runner-up after knocking the Fightin’ Irish out of the postseason one year ago.
But the Fightin’ Irish built a 14-7 first-quarter lead and never gave it up until early in the fourth, when the Liberators finally hit a go-ahead shot with about six minutes left in regulation.
The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes, with the lead changing five more times before the end of the night. But Catholic held a 47-43 advantage when Bolivar called timeout with 1:32 remaining in the fourth quarter and never let the Liberators closer than two points.
Bolivar’s Lukas Gabani scored off a feed from Kyle Pock to cut the deficit to 49-47 with 41.3 seconds left, but Howell and O’Reilly each hit two free throws in the final 30 seconds to ice it.
“A lot of blue and gold in the stadium and they were going crazy if we even turned the ball over,” O’Reilly said. “It’s fun to come in here and kind of silence the crowd a little bit.”
Pock, a junior Division I prospect who scored 34 points in a regular-season win over the Fightin’ Irish earlier this season, finished with just 18 points in the rematch.
Howell, a senior who holds multiple Division I offers of his own, began the night guarding Pock but got into early foul trouble. That left the task up to O’Reilly, who will play football at Missouri State.
“If Zach’s going to the bench, it’s next man up,” O’Reilly said. “And if I got fouls, I don’t know who’s guarding him next. We just got fortunate. He took some shots that he normally makes.”
“Liam really got it going in practice this week,” Simpson said. “He was hitting shots. I told my assistant coaches that if he makes some shots on Saturday, we’re going to be a tough out. And he made some big shots today.”
O’Reilly’s big night on offense also helped the Fightin’ Irish get over the top in a matchup that featured two state-ranked teams. Bolivar was ranked third in the state, but finished the year 25-5.
The Fightin’ Irish, ranked fourth, are back in the Final Four since finishing as the runner-up when Howell and O’Reilly were freshmen. Lyon, a third senior, is in his first year of eligibility after transferring from Ozark last year.
Simpson is also in his first year as the team’s coach and has the Fightin’ Irish in position to win the school’s first boys basketball state championship since 1984.
“It’s nothing I’m doing,” Simpson said. “I have a great relationship with (the seniors). I love them. We’re a family. Without that talent, you don’t play in games like this. I’m blessed just to be able to coach those guys every day. I would do anything for them. They’re great kids on and off the court. It’s just been a blast. Win or lose next week, I hate that it’s coming to an end.”
