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By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Dora High School doesn’t have a football team, but it does have a weight room.
The Falcons have been using it a lot since the start of the school year.
Dora muscled its way to an 82-66 win over Jefferson (Conception Jct.) in Thursday’s Class 1 Show-Me Showdown boys’ semifinals at JQH Arena in Springfield.
Isaac Haney, a 6-foot guard committed to Missouri State, led all players in points (38) and rebounds (13). Mason Luna added 19 points.
Dora’s dominance around the basket made the difference.
Haney credited that part to Dora’s strength training program and weights coach Cole Garnette.
“He came in this (school) year and we’re always joking around with him about how much of a difference he’s made. But he really has,” Haney said. “It’s really helped our team to mature. Auston Luna, he’s put on 35 pounds since his freshman year. Waylon Masters has added eight-to-10 inches to his vertical.
“I know some of that comes with getting older, but the work we’ve done in the weight room has really paid off.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Despite their four-guard lineup, the Falcons won the game with their physicality and play around the basket.
The Falcons out-rebounded Jefferson 40-22 and had a 21-4 edge in second-chance points. Dora also made 32 of 40 free throw attempts and drew 29 total fouls on Jefferson.
“We preach that all year long: Trying to win the battle on the boards,” said Dora coach Rick Luna. “Our goal, every game, is try to get 30 rebounds. If we can get to 30 rebounds, I feel like we have a good chance to win.”
Dora plays in the Class 1 boys’ state title game at 4:30 p.m. Friday at JQH Arena. The Falcons have never won a state championship in basketball.
On the advice of the Greene County Director of Public Health and Missouri State University, MSHSAA has restricted fan access this weekend to only 150 tickets per school due to Covid-19 (Coronavirus) concerns.
Just last week, Dora played in front of about 3,000 fans at Mountain Grove High School in their sectional win over South Iron.
“(Tonight) was definitely different than what we’re used to,” said Dora forward Waylon Masters. “It was almost like a summer-ball game.”
Dora never trailed after the first minute, but didn’t put away Jefferson for good until the fourth quarter.
The Falcons led by six midway through the third quarter, then 54-43 entering the fourth. Mason Luna’s basket with 6:05 remaining gave Dora its biggest lead of the game – 64-48 – up to that point.
Thursday’s outcome was a small bit of revenge for the Falcons. Dora lost 75-65 to Jefferson in last year’s Class 1 title game.
Jefferson shot 73 percent overall (7-for-10 from 3) and got a game-high 30 points from 6’6” post Chase Farnan in the victory.
“It’s hard to beat a team when they shoot 73 percent,” Rick Luna said. “We out-rebounded them, turned them over. It was just their day.”
Thursday night, Jefferson shot 26-for-50 and Farnan finished with six points. Trevor McQueen scored all 17 of his points in the first half.
Haney made 14 of 15 free throws to help Dora seal the win.
Dora 82, Jefferson (Conception Jct.) 66
Dora 20 16 18 28– 82
Jefferson 16 12 15 23 – 66
Dora (31-2 overall) – Isaac Haney 38, Mason Luna 19, Auston Luna 9, Waylon Masters 8, Bryson Luna 4, Jacob Freiman 2, Landon Luna 2
Jefferson (28-3 overall) – Trevor McQueen 17, Clayton Merrigan 15, Gabe Nothstine 9, Dalton Luke 7, Chase Farnan 6, Memphis Bliley 6, Steven Chor 4, Patrick O’Connor 2
