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By Kai Raymer and Nolan Epstein
The 7:30 p.m. semifinal of Wednesday’s Walnut Grove Holiday Classic will feature a pair of Polk County League teams: Fair Play and Wheatland.
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Thomas’ late 3-pointer seals Fair Play’s upset
Kohner Thomas picked a heck of a time for what may have been his first 3-pointer of the season.
The Fair Play junior’s late triple, with just over a minute remaining, gave Fair Play a four-point lead and the Hornets were able to hold on to it, upsetting No. 2 seed Fordland 62-56.
Fair Play appeared ready to run some clock with the game winding down, but Thomas had other plans when the ball came to him on the left wing.
PHOTOS: FAIR PLAY VS. FORDLAND
“I just caught it and said, ‘Yes,’ in my head and let it fly,” Thomas said. “I didn’t second-guess it.
“I can shoot 3s, I just prefer to (drive). I believe that’s my first or second (3-pointer) of the year.”
Thomas’s trey put Fair Play up 58-54. Fordland never had possession and a chance to tie or take the lead again.
“I’m not sure that’s the shot I was wanting us to take at the time, except he drilled it,” laughed Fair Play coach Lynn Long. “So it was great from that standpoint. The big thing is, he has a lot of confidence. I don’t think he worries too much about things.”
Later, Fordland (6-4 overall) missed a 3-pointer while trailing 60-56. Fair Play(6-2 overall) got the ensuing rebound and broke Fordland’s desperation pressure by finding Thomas up the court for a wide-open, game-clinching layup.
Hunter Burks led three Fordland players in double figures with 18 points. Fair Play had four players score in double figures, led by Thomas’ 17.
“We played with year other since second and third grade, so we’re all (familiar) with each other,” Thomas said. “Once someone gets going, we just get the ball to them.”
Fair Play meets Polk County League foe Hermitage in the semifinals Wednesday at 7:30.
Fair Play 62, Fordland 56
Fair Play 14 15 9 24 — 62
Fordland 17 11 15 13 — 56
Fair Play – Kohner Thomas 17, Devon Rovenstine 15, Camden Welch 13, Ryan Rutledge 13, Justin Smith 2, Kendall Wright 2
Fordland – Hunter Burks 18, Noah Abbasi 16, Noah Sparks 14, Jake Farnsworth 6, Hunter Young 2
Unbeaten Hermitage overcomes slow start to beat Billings
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It was certainly far from pretty, but the third-seeded Hermitage Hornets (9-0) ultimately took care of business against a gritty Billings bunch in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Walnut Grove Boys Holiday Classic on Friday night.
The 69-50 final score wasn’t quite indicative of what transpired throughout the entirety of the contest as Hermitage, coming into the game outscoring its opponents by an average of nearly 36 points per tilt, was forced to overcome a 10-2 start in favor of the underdog Wildcats and a 6-point deficit at the end of the opening quarter.
PHOTOS: HERMITAGE VS. BILLINGS
“Nothing was going right for us tonight,” said Hermitage head coach Joe Nicholson. “None of our shots were going in and the things that usually work for us weren’t working, but the good news is that our guys still played as hard as they always play. For as bad as we played, we were still able to pull it out.”
No. 11 seed Billings (4-6), fresh off an upset of sixth-seeded Ash Grove on Wednesday, was taken lighter than it should have been in the opening minutes by the Hornets – leading to the Wildcats’ hot start and a sluggish eight minutes for Nicholson’s team.
Fortunately for Hermitage, the wake-up call was quick and effective as the Hornets outscored their adversaries 23-10 in the second period to switch a 16-10 hole to a 33-26 lead at the half.
Over the final 16 minutes of play, Hermitage kept the intensity on full blast – turning empty Billings possessions into quick transition buckets on a consistent basis.
“We started to realize that [Billings] was really good competition,” said Hermitage senior Jeff Salmon, who scored a game-high 23 points in the win. “We gave them credit and we started working the ball around, started playing our game and started pushing the ball up to get our fast breaks. I think that showed in the last three quarters.”
Another reason for Hermitage’s early troubles was the Wildcats’ containment of low-post threat Dillon Meyer, who traditionally makes a habit of scoring at will on the inside. On Friday, Billings managed to swarm Meyer on defense – making the Hornets find alternate scoring sources.
Salmon, along with fellow senior Victor Le Verdier (16 points), answered the call.
“Fortunately, Jeff and Victor both picked up the slack and got the points,” Nicholson said. “I thought Jeff and Victor both did a great job of taking the ball to the rim, which is what we needed to do in that defense they were playing on us.”
After the game, Nicholson wasted no time in giving credit to a Billings team that had plans for another upset, but came up short.
“Their coach is an incredible coach,” added Nicholson of Billings and head coach Kendall Tilley. “He had a great game plan against us and he did a really good job of trying to beat us, and he almost pulled it off. He does a really good job.”
With the victory, Hermitage moves on to the semifinal round against 7-seed Fair Play on Wednesday. Billings plays Fordland on Wednesday in the fifth-place bracket.
Hermitage 69, Billings 50
Billings – 16 10 10 14 – 50
Hermitage – 10 23 12 24 – 69
Billings – Bobby Brown 13, Jacob Smith 13, Luke Johnson 9, Tyler Essick 5, Wyatt Wilson 4, Grant Groves 4, Mason Gammons 2
Hermitage – Jeff Salmon 23, Victor Le Verdier 16, Austin Hostettler 12, Dillon Meyer 11, Darek Reeves 7
