By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It was anybody’s ballgame with about a minute-and-a-half left in Saturday night’s Class 3 quarterfinal.
But a few breaks and bounces that went Thayer’s way helped the Bobcats secure their third straight trip to the final four with a 63-57 victory over Greenwood at Great Southern Bank Arena on the Missouri State University campus.
“A lot of people take it for granted, going to three in a row, but we’re going to celebrate tonight and celebrate tomorrow, and then get right back to work and game plan for (Central-New Madrid County) and hopefully, win a state championship,” said senior Aidan Burns, who led four Bobcats in double figures with 16 points.
“Those breaks are one of those things where you’re holding your breath, waiting for the ref, to see which direction he’s going to point. We got some (to go) our way, but that’s what it takes to win these games; it takes a little bit of luck.”
The game was tied 45-45 heading into the final quarter. Thayer opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run, and Greenwood answered with a 5-0 run of its own to tie it back up at 50. The Bobcats went up 52-50 on two Rowan Spencer free throws before Greenwood senior Garrett Winslow scored on a putback of his own miss to knot it back up at 52.
A 6-0 Thayer run gave the Bobcats a 58-52 lead with just over two minutes to go in the game. Clark hit a 3-pointer from the wing and then scored on a baseline drive to pull the Bluejays to 58-57. But a missed and-one, and an unfortunate bounce, gave the ball back to Thayer, which closed it out with a 5-0 run punctuated with a dunk by Burns.
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“These things don’t ever come easy,” Thayer coach Matt Pitts said of his team’s quarterfinal win. “(Our kids) know that. No matter who your opponent is; when you get this far, it’s going to be somebody that’s proven and can play. We knew coming in today, that would be no different. Coach (Darren) Taylor does a great job with those guys and we’ve got a ton of respect for that program. We just made some plays down the stretch and we’re fortunate enough to get out with a win.”
Thayer managed to hold Clark scoreless in the first half, but the junior contributed in other ways by hitting the boards and running the offense.
Logan Sanders stepped up in a big way for the Bluejays, scoring 21 first-half points on seven 3-pointers, and a game-high 24 points.
“If he’s not there… he’s been shooting the ball really well of late,” Greenwood coach Darren Taylor said. “He’s got a lot of confidence and we’ve got a lot of confidence in him.”
The Bluejays pulled ahead (39-36) midway through the third quarter on a 3-pointer from freshman Tyler Harrell. Following a Thayer bucket, Clark was able to get his offense going when he hit a 3 from the top of the key to give Greenwood a 42-38 lead with 3:28 to go in the third.
“We were able to get (Collin) more open looks (in the second half),” Taylor said. “Some of the other guys were making shots and (Thayer) wasn’t able to concentrate on Collin, so that helped. Thayer does a very good job attacking the basket. They started to get some easy baskets there late when we didn’t cut them off. It didn’t seem like we could get a break at the right time. And then a couple of times, we didn’t make our own breaks.
“This has been a heck of a year. It far exceeded our expectations and I’m just so proud of this group and they hung right in there with one of the best teams in southwest Missouri.”
Up next for the Bobcats will be Central (New Madrid County), a 70-38 winner over Kingston, in the state semifinals at 6 p.m., Friday, March 8, at Mizzou Arena. Burns said his team is ready.
“We’re experienced, we’ve been here before, we know what it takes,” Burns said. “We came up short last year, but we learn from our mistakes, watch film, and we’ve been preparing all season. We played a tough schedule. We’ve lost eight games, and we did it all in preparation for this – playing the toughest schedule we could. It was all on purpose.”
THAYER 63, GREENWOOD 57
Class 3 Quarterfinal game
THAYER 11-21-13-18—63
GREENWOOD 7-20-18-12—57
GREENWOOD (25-4) – Collin Clark 8, Logan Sanders 24, Garrett Winslow 17, Tyler Harrell 8.
THAYER (21-8) – Aidan Burns 16, Devin Harrington 14, Rowan Spencer 15, Easton Pitts 13, Brandon Prince 2, Mark Spencer 3.
