Willard’s Jude Wallace hit this tough fade away with time expriing to give No. 6 seed Willard a 48-47 win over No. 3 seed Hartville. pic.twitter.com/iKKx9aAvvZ
— Ozarks Sports Zone (@OzarksOzone) December 27, 2024
By Don Abernathy (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Ask Willard junior J.J. Huskisson and he will tell you that he had no doubt when his teammate Jude Wallace took the do-or-die shot at the buzzer against Hartville.
He could tell by the way it looked, and he knew that Wallace’s shot was going in.
“I knew it by seeing the release,” Huskisson said. “It was smooth. Nothing but net, cash money. I am so proud of him. We needed that bucket.”
In a scramble during the final seconds, Wallace collected himself, got a handle on the ball, and took a 15-foot, fade-away shot from the right wing that found nothing but net.
The bucket gave Willard a 48-47 win in the quarterfinals of the Gold Division at Great Southern Bank Arena on Friday.
“I love being in those big shot moments,” Wallace said. “I knew what to do in that situation, we go through that everyday in practice.
“I got to my spot, but I kind of lost the ball a little bit and I knew time was running out. I just had to get it up there.”
Down by one point (47-46) with 38.3 seconds left to play after a Hartville turnover during an inbounds play under their own basket, the Willard coaching staff discussed taking a quick shot, but decided to hold for the final shot.
“The only thing we had set was belief in our guys,” Willard coach J.J. Adamson said. “Listen, I’m not saying holding the ball was the right thing to do. If that shot doesn’t go in by Jude then I don’t look nearly as smart.
“But we have an extreme amount of confidence in our guys and we felt like there were some matchups that we could take advantage of and we left it in our guys’ hands. Jude Wallace made a heck of a play at the buzzer.”
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But that wasn’t all that Wallace did for Willard in the final minutes. With the Tigers trailing by four points (47-43) with 1:29 left in the game, Wallace scored the final five points of the game.
He drove from the right wing, hit the jumper, and was fouled. The conventional three-point play cut the lead to one, setting up his own heroics in the final seconds.
“Coming up big on this big of a stage at Missouri State is huge,” Wallace said. “I think you can hear it in my voice, it’s just about gone right now. It’s always good to celebrate with your teammates. That’s what this is all about.”
Willard trailed 26-19 just after halftime, when senior Braxton Boyer sparked a run scoring six points in less than two minutes to tie the game at 26-all.
The lead changed hands four times from the third quarter into the fourth, before Hartville reeled off eight-straight points to surge ahead 41-36 midway through the fourth quarter. Junior Mason Cogdill scored six of the eight during the run.
Willard junior J.J. Huskisson scored nine of his team-high 12 points in the fourth quarter as the Tigers chipped away at the Hartville lead.
“He had a monster second half,” Adamson said. “His ability to be under control off the bounce and he was flawless about being able to score the basketball tonight.”
Huskisson scored three buckets on drives to the basket and then hit a 3 from the right baseline before Wallace took over.
“I’m recognizing the floor when I drive, I am waiting for the defensive rotation to come so I can kick out to my teammates,” Huskisson said. “If it doesn’t come, I get a bucket or draw a foul.”
Huskisson finished with 12 points and six rebounds and senior Blake Daughtery added 11 points.
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“I’m just extremely proud of our kids,” Adamson said. “There’s no selfishness.”
Cogdill scored a game-high 18 points for Hartville in the loss.
Willard will face Republic in the semifinals at Great Southern Bank Arena on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 5:30 p.m.
Hartville will play West Plains at Hammons Student Center on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Willard 48, Hartville 47 – FINAL
Willard – 5-12-17-14 — 48
Hartville – 9-12-12-14 — 47
W: JJ Husiksson 12, Blake Daugherty 11, Braxton Boyer 9, Colbee Mowell 6, Jude Wallace 5, Nahmy Kelly 2
H: Mason Cogdill 18, Boone Garrison 11, Jackson Ward 9, Payton Cogdill 5, Jordan O’Quinn 2, Gus Sinning 2
