Springfield Catholic prevails in double OT; will meet FG for district title

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By Kary Booher

Fair Grove, MO –

Springfield Catholic 86, Clever 74

With sweaty hair and starry-eyed gazes, sophomores Mike Manzardo and Charlie O’Reilly emerged from the locker room looking as if they couldn’t believe it themselves.

And then Manzardo, part of Springfield Catholic team that was seen as a sleeper in early December and is now a postseason menace, said as much.

“I had no clue,” Manzardo said, “how we pulled that out.”

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On a night when its 10-point lead evaporated in the final 1:19 of regulation, Catholic eventually regained its confidence in double overtime – yes, double OT — and beat the injury- and foul-plagued Clever Blue Jays 86-74 in a thrilling, Class 3 District 11 semifinal Thursday night at Fair Grove High School.

Manzardo’s 3-pointer kick-started the second OT, and Ian Cochran’s traditional three-point play on the next possession sent the Fightin’ Irish on their way to a district championship showdown against Fair Grove at 6 p.m. Saturday.

This for a team whose roster has no seniors but relies on a bevy of juniors and sophomores that is now 20-7 overall and has won 14 consecutive – including a 59-52 victory against Fair Grove on Feb. 14 in this very building. Five Irish players finished in double figures against Clever, led by Jake Branham’s career-high 26 points.

“It’s part of that mentality – people don’t expect us, as Springfield Catholic, to win games,” said O’Reilly, who scored 18 points. “Throughout all this, we beat teams who people thought we had no chance against. It’s brought us all on the team closer together.”

Said Branham, “We’ve basically been told that this year we were too young. Our goal has been to send a message.”

Still, Cleve nearly pulled off an improbable comeback – improbable because five Blue Jays were either injured or nursing injuries from the third quarter on, while senior standout Jakob Partee fell into major foul trouble.

While Partee got whistled for his fourth foul with 5 minutes left in regulation, the Irish missed several chances to put the game to bed in the fourth. Catholic committed four turnovers when it held nine- or 10-point advantages, and then also missed four of six free throws in the final 51 seconds of regulation.

That opened the door for Clever, whose frantic rally in the final 69 seconds featured two 3-pointers from Hampton and then Hampton going coast-to-coast to score the tying layup that beat the buzzer.

It was 65-65 at that point.

Said Hampton, “I knew I was going to take it when I got the ball, and then I heard their coach tell them not to foul.”

Partee finished with 22 points for Clever, who also got 17 points from Hampton and a combined 16 points from Derek and Jared Sopak.

Unfortunately for Clever, it could not sustain momentum after the game headed to the second OT tied 70-70.

Catholic had built double-digit leads in the third quarter on 3-pointers mostly from Branham. But in opening the second OT, the Irish worked the ball around and immediately found Manzardo, who then sank his third 3-pointer of the game. He had hit two big 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter in the win against Fair Grove.

Manzardo finished with 14 points, while Cochran had 11, with his three-point play coming off a play in which the Irish spread the floor.

“Manzardo has the shortest memory of any animal in the world,” Catholic coach Tony Armstrong said. “He doesn’t know if he’s made or missed his last 3.”

Clever had worked in several different combinations by that time with a number of players nursing injuries or in foul trouble. Partee fouled out on Cochran’s three-point play. Hampton also was nursing a left ankle issue down the stretch.

“I told our kids I was so proud of them,” Clever coach Luke Brosius said. “There were several times where I didn’t think we had anything left, and then we’d make a play.”

Clever finished 21-6.

“They made tough 3s and we missed free throws,” Armstrong said. “But since Christmas, we’ve been tough. I told them we’ve been mentally tough and, we kept running guys in and out on Partee, we thought if we stayed close, our depth was probably better.”

Springfield Catholic 86, Clever 74

Catholic 17 14 20 14 5 16 – 86

Clever 20 12 11 22 5 4 – 74

Catholic – Branham 26, O’Reilly 18, Manzardo 15, Cochran 12, Maes 10, Jones 6.

Clever: Partee 22, Hampton 17, D. Sopak 16, J. Sopak 11, Matthew Christoffer 4, Mark Christoffer 2, Peck 2.

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Fair Grove 77, Strafford 57

When Tim Brown played at Drury University, he emerged as a 3-point scorer who also harassed defenders.

Now, his Fair Grove High School boys basketball team is emblematic of their coach’s old days.

The Eagles scored a 77-57 victory against the Stafford Indians in a Class 3 District 11 semifinal Thursday night, holding Strafford without a field goal in the first 8 ½ minutes and then riding Garrett Kesterson and Steve Huskey to the finish line after the game was in doubt.

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Kesterson finished with 27 points and Huskey 17 for Fair Grove, which will have a chance to win its second consecutive district championship at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Thing is, the Eagles should be battle-tested. After all, the district semifinal forced Fair Grove to be mentally ready, given it was a rematch of a 72-49 Fair Grove victory from as recently as Friday night. Plus, the Eagles pulled away in the third quarter Thursday after Strafford cut a 17-point deficit down to five points early in the third quarter.

A precarious five-point advantage ballooned to 57-35 for Fair Grove before the final stanza.

“Playing a team again (within days) can be tough. We knew they were going to come hard at us,” Kesterson said. “But we had a pretty good practice yesterday.”

For Fair Grove (23-5), it was a night that was even more impressive given the Eagles’ 6-foot-7 center, Evan Fullerton, missed most of the first half after getting whistled for a second foul.

Fortunately for the Eagles, guards Cole Gilpen, Dalton Gloyd and Garret Potter, plus forward David Oplotnik, played in-your-face defense.

Strafford didn’t score its first bucket until the 7:17 mark of the first quarter and then found it difficult to score in the third period.

“We wanted to have a good start, and that’s something we talked about coming in, that we wanted to dictate the way it went,” Brown said. “Anytime you give up two points in the first quarter, you are doing something right. I’m really proud of our seniors for coming out and getting us ready.”

Said Cloyd, “We knew in practice that we had to run them off screens and they’d be more physical.”

Meanwhile, Strafford’s season ends with a 14-10 record after the Indians were trying to avenge last year’s loss to Fair Grove in the district tournament championship.

For the Indians, in essence, they simply couldn’t sustain their run in the second quarter, when the Indians outscored the Eagles 14-3 in the final 4 ½ minutes to make a game of it. In essence, Strafford managed to widen its offensive, half-court attack, a strategy that led to guards streaking down the baseline from the corner and converting running layups.

“We didn’t have a lot of success last Friday doing that. But we were more aggressive in the second quarter and took it to the rim,” Strafford coach Mike Wilson said. “We didn’t settle for a little bump and a kick-out.”

Riley Oberbeck’s 17 points and Tyler Winburn’s 15 points led Strafford, which saw Fair Grove pull away in the third quarter.

Kesterson and Huskey did most of the heaving lifting as the Eagles outscored Strafford 25-10 in the third quarter, with Kesterson’s breakway dunk pushing the advantage to 18 points just before the fourth quarter.

But defense won it.

“Coach told us we had to build a wall (defensively),” Kesterson said. “We had to stay down and stay disciplined.”

Fair Grove 77, Strafford 57

Strafford 2 23 10 22 – 57

Fair Grove 15 17 25 20 — 77

Strafford: Riley Oberbeck 17, Tyler Winburn 15, Trayson Lawler 7, White 4, Choate 4, Comstock 6, Boswell 7, Roebke 2.

Fair Grove: Garret Kesterson 27, Steve Huskey 17, Cole Gilpen 11, Dalton Cloyd 8, Evan Fullerton 6, Potter 5, Oplotnik 3.

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