Mountain Grove Survives Hartville’s Frantic Fourth-Quarter Rally

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By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer

Mountain Grove, Mo. — A six-point lead with under one minute remaining nearly evaporated before the eyes of Mountain Grove fans Friday night in a highly anticipated matchup with rival Hartville.

A steal and transition layup by Deric Jones pulled Hartville within four with 47.9 seconds left. Then, it was Jace Keith’s turn to do the same. Keith got the shot to fall in transition off the turnover and the whistle to blow on the foul. But with a chance to bring the Eagles within a point, Keith’s free-throw attempt rimmed out.

Hartville earned another possession with a shot at the lead, but Mountain Grove’s defense came up with what amounted to the game-winning stand. The Panthers would hit four late free throws to secure the 70-66 win.

CLICK HERE FOR HARTVILLE VS. MOUNTAIN GROVE PHOTOS

“We made some plays down the stretch and made some big free throws at the end,” Mountain Grove head coach Duane Hiler said. “I’m awful proud of our kids. They competed and they competed their butt off. That was two teams that just flat got after it, and I think everyone got their money’s worth tonight.”

Class 3 No. 7 Mountain Grove (13-2) seemed primed to pull away from Class 2 No. 1 Hartville (13-4) in the third quarter, pushing its lead to 13. But the Eagles battled back. Down nine with 1.8 seconds left in the third, Hartville’s Braden Keith and Dune Piper executed a perfect inbound play under the basket to enter the fourth quarter down 49-42. (See that play at 1:27 of the above highlights).

“Any time you play Hartville you know you’re in it for four quarters,” Hiler said. “They’ve got a great team and they don’t take any plays off and they compete until the end. They made the big play there and it gave them momentum. We were able to withstand it in the fourth quarter.”

That play seemed to hand Hartville momentum after facing a double-digit deficit just minutes earlier. That momentum showed up on the offensive end in the fourth quarter with the Eagles putting up 24 points. But Mountain Grove managed to trade baskets Hartville throughout, scoring 21 points of their own in the final quarter and never giving up its lead.

“Last couple games we’ve just not gotten the big stops that we needed [late in games],” Hartville head coach Brett Reed said. “We haven’t put together four, five, six stops in a row and that’s been our nemesis lately. We’ve got to get back to the drawing board and make sure we’re guarding.”

Both teams were hot from three in the first half with Mountain Grove connected on seven and Hartville four.

Mountain Grove senior Trey Collins hit three 3s in the first half, accounting for nine of his 15 points.

Junior Cade Coffman led Mountain Grove with 17 points. Brock Coffman and Connor McNew accounted for 13 and 12.

“I thought Mountain Grove had a great gameplan,” Reed said. “They executed well, their kids defended well. They’re gamers. Coach Hiler is, in my mind, a hall-of-famer. They just beat us tonight. It had a lot to do with them.”

Piper paced Hartville with 23, with nine of those coming in Friday’s frantic fourth quarter. Coffman and Collins were key for Mountain Grove in the fourth, with Collins going 5-5 from the stripe and Coffman putting up seven points.

“I told them they worked too hard to let [the lead] go,” Hiler said. “They busted their tail for 3.5 quarters and they worked too hard to give it away. But it wasn’t so much us giving it away. It was Hartville going and taking it. They’re as good defensively as anyone is southwestern Missouri.”

Mountain Grove and Hartville have a shot to meet again next week with both participating in the Mountain Grove Tournament.

Hartville has now lost two in a row for the second time this season. The Eagles fell to Nixa, 61-54, on Jan. 17.

Mountain Grove has won six straight since dropping back-to-back games to Rogersville and Bolivar in the Blue & Gold Tournament.

FINAL: Mountain Grove 70, Hartville 66
Hartville 15 12 15 24- 66
Mountain Grove 17 15 17 21- 70

Hartville- Dune Piper 23, Wyatt Ward 15, Jace Keith 9, Deric Jones 8, Cody Kelley 8, Braden Keith 3
Mountain Grove- Cade Coffman 17, Treye Collins 15, Brock Coffman 13, Connor McNew 12, Carter Otwell 7, Gavin Veach 6

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