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By Nolan Epstein
Walnut Grove, MO – An awful lot of basketball talent was on display in Walnut Grove on Thursday night as visiting Hartville (19-5) took down the Walnut Grove Tigers (21-3) in a high-powered battle of state-ranked squads.
The Eagles, coming in as the No. 2 ranked team in Class 2, achieved a rare feat in their 70-63 victory as they handed the Tigers (No. 2 in Class 1) their first home loss since Dec. 31, 2013.
Not suffering a loss on its own floor in over three years certainly speaks volumes about a team, but leave it to the defending state champs to crash the party.
“They’re winners,” Hartville head coach Brett Reed said about his club after the win. “They’re champions and they know what it takes to win down the stretch. When things don’t go our way or we have to battle some adversity, these kids are very resilient.”
Resiliency was the key term in the final minutes as the Eagles nearly squandered a sizable first-half advantage, thanks to a Walnut Grove 3-point barrage led by junior standout Logan Thomazin.
Both teams essentially traded points through the first three minutes of regulation, but a 14-0 run by Hartville gave the Eagles a commanding 22-8 lead with 2:23 to go in the opening period – handing Reed’s bunch some much-needed momentum while playing in enemy territory.
“That turned out to be really big,” Reed said of Hartville’s early scoring spurt. “We played really well in the first quarter.”
After leading by as many as 15 points in the second quarter, the Tigers, fueled by a boisterous home crowd, battled back to close the gap to 7 points by halftime. Spurred by eight 3-balls in the second half, Walnut Grove would tie the game on three different occasions over the final ten minutes of play before finally running out of bullets.
“We showed a lot of heart,” Walnut Grove coach Darin Meinders said. “It says a lot about our kids. We didn’t come in here for a moral victory, but we got beat by a very good Hartville team.”
Perhaps the final blow for the Tigers occurred at the 3:11 mark of the fourth quarter with Hartville clinging to a 63-61 lead. That’s when Thomazin got called for his fifth foul – immensely reducing the chances for the home team to complete its comeback.
Despite Thomazin being forced to watch the rest of the game from the bench, Meinders wasn’t about to make any excuses.
“When that happens, then somebody else has to step up,” said Meinders. “That’s what we talked about. We were still right there at that point and we didn’t make some plays down the stretch.”
In the win, Hartville was led by senior Deric Jones and his game-high 29 points.
“Deric is one of the best players to ever come out of Hartville, there’s no doubt about that,” added
Reed. “He played well again for us tonight. He’s one of those all-around players and I’m going to miss watching him play next year.”
Thomazin, who was held scoreless through the first eight minutes, finished with 27 points and sunk six 3-pointers. Entering the game listed as seventh all-time in terms of career 3-pointers in the state of Missouri, the sharpshooting junior has now hit 312 treys.
Box Score
Hartville – 25 12 15 18 – 70
Walnut Grove – 13 17 21 12 – 63
Hartville – Deric Jones 29, Jace Keith 15, Wyatt Ward 15, Dune Piper 7, Braden Keith 2, Cody Kelley 2
Walnut Grove – Logan Thomazin 27, Hunter Gilkey 15, Dawson Meinders 14, Jaron Dishman 5, Cory Countryman 2
