By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Pleasant Hope senior forward Dayton Altic couldn’t stop smiling as he conducted his second interview ever. And it was easy to understand why he felt elated.
Not since the early 1990s has Pleasant Hope boys’ basketball experienced this.
District champions.
“We haven’t won this in the 2000s. It’s been a minute,” Altic said. “We feel like we’ve worked hard and deserve it.”
The Pirates are postseason bound for the first time in over three decades after defeating New Covenant Academy 73-60 in the Class 2 District 12 Tournament championship game at Marion C. Early High School in Morrisville on Friday night.
Junior guard Bryson Craver poured in a team-high 24 points to help Pleasant Hope earn its first boys’ basketball district title since 1992. Three other Pirates scored in double figures.
“Last year, we had a great year (17 wins). One of the best years we’ve had in a while,” Altic said. “They still doubted us this year. We came in as a family. We come together at the end and always try our best. We work for each other.”
This season, the Pirates have continued making progress since their 2023-24 turnaround. Along the way, they dropped down to Class 2 and added a new head coach in Ben Glasgow, who had previous stints at Bolivar (girls) and Licking (boys).
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“Sometimes, we’ll (chirp) at each other a little bit. We’ll tell them, ‘We’re not doing that,’” Glasgow said. “But we just got closer and closer as the season went on. I think that played a huge part in this. Because in games like this, you have to be together.”
Pleasant Hope and New Covenant Academy split a pair of meetings during the regular season. In Friday night’s rubber match, a defensive change late in the first half helped the Pirates seize control.
“I’m going to give a lot of credit to my assistant coach. He suggested I go to a zone (defense). I didn’t want to do it, but we got in a little bit of foul trouble,” Glasgow said. “We went zone, and once we figured out how to stop (NCA) in transition, we were able to go on a run. That was a big part. And we hit shots.”
Pleasant Hope led 38-30 at halftime. The lead grew as high as 16 in the second half.
New Covenant Academy could not find enough offense to keep pace, despite a valiant effort from senior post Hudson Grier. He finished with 25 points.
“He’s been incredible all year,” said NCA coach Anthony Shavies. “I wish I could coach him for four years. He doesn’t have any post moves. He just comes out and plays hard and works his butt off the whole game.”
Pleasant Hope made nine 3-pointers on Friday night. The Pirates, whose tallest player is the 6’3” Altic, overcome their size limitations by spacing the floor with four or five capable shooters.
“Sometimes, we’ll take too many (3s),” Glasgow said. “In this district tournament, we’ve shot it well.”
Pirates sophomore Bradley Jenkins, who had four of the treys, finished with 16 points and earned a postgame shoutout from his teammate.
“(Jenkins) is the best shooter in the 417,” Altic said.
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF THE GAME
It will be a short turnaround for the newly crowned district champions. Pleasant Hope will play Blue Eye in the Class 2 sectional round this Monday, March 3.
New Covenant Academy (15-12 overall) finishes with its best record in six seasons. NCA’s preseason outlook would’ve suggested a transition year with a new head coach (Shavies) and limited varsity experience returning.
“I’m so extremely proud of these boys,” Shavies said. “I’m sure nobody expected us to be here. We only had two kids with varsity experience coming into this season, and two of my other starters didn’t even play last year. I’m incredibly proud of them. I feel like we’ve overachieved all year.”
Shavies is confident about the program’s future. The bulk of NCA’s team next year will be juniors and sophomores.
“I said this to our guys: They better catch us now, because this is going to be our off year,” Shavies said. “Every year after now, we’re going to be better. And every year after this, it’s going to be tougher to beat us. We will be back.”
Pleasant Hope 73, New Covenant Academy 60
New Covenant Academy 17 13 10 20 — 60
Pleasant Hope 16 22 11 24 — 73
New Covenant Academy (15-12 overall) – Hudson Grell 25, Ben Meek 12, Brixton Watson 7, Dalton Anderson 6, Keilynn Armitage 5, Tate McWilliams 3, Sam Dauber 2
Pleasant Hope (16-10 overall) – Bryson Craver 24, Bradley Jenkins 16, Caleb Altic 14, Dayton Altic 11, Case Murray 8
