By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
After advancing to the sectionals two years ago and the quarterfinals last season, Ava’s girls basketball team hoped the third time would be the charm for a program seeking its first Final Four berth.
Unfortunately for the Bears, Southern Boone had different plans.
The Eagles limited Ava to just two points in the first quarter and went on to win a defensive struggle 36-27 in a Class 4 quarterfinal at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar.
Ava coach Nathan Houk told his players there was nothing he could say to make the sting and hurt go away.
“I still think about my last game and I’ve been out of high school for a long, long time,” he said. “When you look back on your high school career and the friendships and bonds you’ve created with each other, think about those memories and what you did for our program and community. I haven’t had a group like this come through. All these kids in the same class that just play so hard for each other, their coaches and their community.”
Saturday was a final farewell to the team’s five seniors: Lexie Gastineau, Olivia Gastineau, Celia Fossett, Sara Mendel and Keeley Akers. The group leaves having won 85 games and three district titles and Houk said it’s the best group he’s ever coached.
“There’s five of them and obviously Liv got hurt a little bit into the season so we didn’t have her most of the year, but the love and admiration they have for each other and the way they play for each other, I’ll never coach another group like it and I’m super proud of them and the way they battled.
“We got off to a tough start tonight offensively but after we kind of dug in I felt like we gave it a pretty good effort, pretty good game.”
The Bears (25-5) had averaged 50 points a game coming into Saturday and had won 16 of their last 17. Their shots just wouldn’t fall against Southern Boone (21-9).
Ava missed shots on 10 of 12 possessions in the first quarter, while the Eagles scored on nine of 12 to take the early 18-2 lead.
Ava battled back to a 20-9 deficit by halftime – after holding Southern Boone to just two points in the second quarter – but didn’t score in the final three-and-a-half minutes of the second and went more than seven minutes into the third before scoring. It was 26-12 after three.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
The Bears got to within single digits in the fourth, though. A basket and two free throws by Mendel made it 27-18 with five minutes left, and a 3-pointer from Mendel with 1:52 on the clock made it 32-23.
They couldn’t get closer than that, though. Not with the Eagles making 10 of 15 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
“Two teams were going at each other that were pretty good defensively,” Houk said. “Unfortunately they were hot to start the game and once we settled down and dug in and kept them from scoring in the second quarter we were still having trouble generating offense and getting the ball in the basket. Didn’t shoot as well as we needed to. Hats off to Southern Boone, they’ve got a good group and they play really hard.”
Mendel finished with 17 points, Lexie Gastineau scored six and sophomore Alexis Emrick and sophomore Emma Smith each had two.
Southern Boone will play Vashon on Friday in the semifinal round at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield.
