By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Grant Heimer could only sit and watch last season.
Going into his junior year, Heimer tore the meniscus in his right knee while playing summer baseball.
He spent six months rehabbing and missed Billings’ fall baseball and winter basketball seasons.
“It was terrible,” said Heimer, now a senior forward. “Probably the worst time of my life.”
On Saturday night, those bad memories were long gone.
Billings won its first district championship in over a decade with a 63-46 victory over Walnut Grove in the Class 1 District 5 Tournament finals.
The Wildcats pulled away over the final eight minutes with a 24-point fourth quarter.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said Billings coach Blayne Armstrong. “We have three seniors who stepped up and some underclassmen who really showed up. They played their hearts out.”
Billings heads to the postseason for the first time since 2012, when the Wildcats won the Class 2 state championship.
“I watched them win it,” Heimer recalled. “They were a good team. They were a lot taller than us. It’s just a dream to live it right now.”
Billings will play at Dadeville on Tuesday night, Feb. 27 in a Class 1 sectional matchup. Game time is not yet known.
Heimer scored a team-high 17 in the win over Walnut Grove.
With about 30 seconds to go and the game in hand, a stoic Heimer was at the free throw line and cracked a smile when he looked toward the Billings student section.
“I just had to smile,” Heimer said. “It’s the district championship, you’re up by however many points. You just have to crack a smile and have some fun.”
Billings has meshed the old with the new this season. Armstrong is in his first season as the team’s head coach. The Wildcats also have two freshmen in the starting lineup.
“Everyone I talked to said, ‘This group is special. What’s coming is special,’” Armstrong said. “My seniors, I couldn’t have asked for a better group to come into. They’ve shown up every day and never questioned and always worked hard.
“Did I expect to come in and win a district championship right off the bat? I would’ve loved to, absolutely, but for us to actually do it… I’m so proud of these kids.”
Point guard Chance Shaffer, one of the stars of Billings’ freshmen class, added 16 points.
“He’s something else. He can shoot the ball like no other. Once he’s on, it’s tough to stop him,” Heimer said. “And he can handle the ball better than anyone else on this team.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Billings led the entire way, including 23-19 at halftime. The Tigers crept within five late in the third (34-29), but a 3-pointer from Billings freshman reserve Kaiden Blakemore pushed the margin back to eight.
“That took the air out of us a little bit,” said Walnut Grove coach Eric Sechler. “Credit to Billings where it’s due: They’re a very physical team, they’re very well-coached and they play their tails off.”
Walnut Grove had one of its worst shooting performances of the season – both from the field and at the free throw line (10-for-26 overall).
Even with a sizable offensive rebounding advantage, the Tigers couldn’t cash in on second and third scoring chances.
“We had to limit them to one shot. Which, if you watched the game, we didn’t do,” Armstrong said. “But we made their guys take tough shots. We can guard. We do a great job fundamentally on defense.”
Billings, which had long been a Class 2 school, moved down to Class 1 this season.
Armstrong didn’t think the switch created an easier path to a district championship.
“When I looked at that Class 2 district, a lot of it was our conference and we had beaten the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds,” Armstrong said. “You can throw anyone out in front of this team and I know they’ll compete.”
Walnut Grove finishes with a winning record (18-10) for the first time since 2019.
The Tigers graduate six seniors, most of whom are post players. A strong guard unit will lead the way next season.
“Things will look a little bit different with our play style,” Sechler said. “But the work ethic and expectations don’t change. We do lose a lot of heart with that senior class.
“We spread the ball around pretty well, so we’ll have a lot of that scoring back.”
Billings 63, Walnut Grove 46
Billings 10 13 16 24 — 63
Walnut Grove 7 12 12 15 — 46
Billings (17-11 overall) – Grant Heimer 17, Chance Shaffer 16, Justin Bos 11, Brock Harter 10, Dylan Edwards 6, Kaiden Blakemore 3
Walnut Grove (18-10 overall) – Diesl Phillips 17, Chase Brown 14, Sam Voris 7, Tanner McMillen 4, Rhett McMillen 3, Landon McMillen 1
