By Chris Parker
“They (Salisbury) have been here (to the final four). Hartville has been here. We have never been here. Those are great programs, and we said before the game that greatness needs company,” Weaubleau head coach Blake Allen said.
Weaubleau is one game away from joining that company of state champions after an all-time performance from senior Gage Johnson.
Nothing was going to stop Johnson in the Class 2 state semifinal against defending state champion Salisbury.
Not the defenders in front of him.
Not even a bloody nose in the third quarter.
“Early in the game I just kept getting hit in the face. I don’t think it was intentional or anything, but every time I would get in the lane, I would catch an elbow or forearm to the face over and over again,” Johnson said.
“I thought we got it (the bleeding) stopped and then he makes that second free throw and there is a big drop of blood sitting on the floor. It felt like it was going to be one of those that wouldn’t stop. Luckily the trainer got it stopped,” Allen said.
The bleeding stemmed, but Johnson’s scoring frenzy was not.
Johnson went on a tear in the fourth quarter scoring17 of his game-high 39 points to help give Weaubleau a 70-61 win and the program’s first berth in a state championship game.
“They say when a game is supposed to be close, you pick the dude. We’ve got the dude,” Allen said.
Salisbury jumped all over Weaubleau in the first half taking a 21-10 lead after the first quarter.
Allen’s message to his team in the huddle was simple.
“I think the first thing I said was ‘boys, it’s not 16 (points)’. We were down 16 last year in the quarterfinal and we got within one or two and couldn’t get over that hump. Earlier this year, we got down 16 at half to Strafford, we got within two or three and couldn’t get over that hump,” Allen said. “I was telling them we are just fine. We have been here before. We just have to play our style of basketball.”
Weaubleau got back to its style of basketball by going on the attack.
“We were more of the aggressors in the second, third and fourth quarter,” Allen said. “In the first quarter I felt like we were just kind of going through motions.”
Salisbury led by as many as 13 in the second quarter before Weaubleau started cutting into the lead. At the half, Weaubleau had the Salisbury lead down to five at 30-25. Entering the fourth-quarter, the deficit was trimmed to one at 45-44.
From there, Johnson took over.
“When he gets in those modes you have to let him go,” Allen said. “There is just a mode he gets in that as soon as (the ball) comes off his fingertips you just assume it is going in.”
For much of the quarter, that is exactly what happened.
Johnson finished six-for-nine from three and 10-for-18 from the field in the game. He was 13-for-13 from the free throw line. He also pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.
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Blane Durnell added in 14 points while Dawson Stewart had 10 for Weaubleau. Salisbury was led by 31 points from Cooper Francis and 21 points from Mason Stapleton.
Thursday’s state championship game will be special for the entire town of Weaubleau, but especially for Durnell and his family.
Durnell’s father played on both of Weaubleau’s other final four teams in 1998 and 2000.
“We have all been dreaming about going here since we were little,” Durnell said. “He (Durnell’s dad) went and got third and fourth. Hopefully we are getting (number) one.”
The prize for beating the defending state champion will be a matchup with the aforementioned traditional power Hartville. The Eagles have been to the state title game in three of the past five seasons.
“(Hartville) coach (Brett) Reed does a great job. They have had success because they buy in to what (Reed) wants to do. I think (Reed’s players) trust him fully that he has the right plan for them,” Allen said. “They are not going to take a bad shot.”
Weaubleau has now authored back-to-back comebacks in both the quarterfinal and semifinal games.
Allen believes his Tigers have the energy for one more big effort.
“It is the state championship. We might come out with more fuel tomorrow,” Allen said. “We have had these moments you can ride the high or that high can bring you down to a lull. I think these guys do a pretty good job of riding high and they are always ready to compete.”
Weaubleau and Hartville will face off in the Class 2 state championship game at 6 pm on Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
