By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Mountain Grove, Mo. — Braden Keith’s corner three with 55 seconds left broke a late tie and pushed Hartville past Thayer Wednesday night and into the Class 2 quarterfinals.
Class 2 No. 1 Hartville (25-4) and C2 No. 2 Thayer (26-4) grappled for four quarters in a defensive struggle only decided after a last-second 3 by Thayer’s Zyman Langley rimmed out, securing the 40-37 final for the Eagles.
“That’s two really good basketball teams going at it,” Hartville head coach Brett Reed said. “For the most part it was a defensive juggernaut. Thayer really gets down and guards well in our matchup zone and I thought our boys did a good job in our half-court man tonight. It was just a battle. I knew it would be coming in.”
CLICK HERE FOR HARTVILLE VS. THAYER PHOTOS
Keith’s unofficial game-winner came in a 35-35 tie out of a Hartville timeout in a play that Reed said broke down, with the Eagles passing up two initial options before finding Keith in the corner.
“We were just trying to confuse the defense,” Keith said. “Their matchup is really great. They clog up the zone well so what we did was keep it moving and they just left me open.
“We knew we needed a bucket. I just stepped up and knocked it down. It felt pretty great.”
Hartville senior Deric Jones led all scorers with 18 points, scoring nine in each half.
Hartville led 20-14 at the half and 26-18 in the third quarter before the game turned into one of runs.
The first belonged to Thayer with the Bobcats cutting that 26-18 lead to 26-24 halfway through the third quarter. Following a Hartville timeout, the Eagles responded with a 6-0 run of their own to go up 32-24. Then, after a Thayer timeout, the Bobcats scored eight unanswered to end the third quarter in a 32-32 deadlock.
Thayer junior Kobe Meyer was fouled on a halfcourt shot to end the third quarter. He hit two of three free throws to tie the game.
Thayer took its first lead since the first quarter on an Ayden Stone bucket with 5.5 minutes to play, putting the Bobcats up 34-33. Stone finished with 12 points to lead Thayer’s scorers. Meyer scored 10.
“We thought we had to get [Stone] up front because when he catches it he’s really good and tough to stop when he gets the ball inside,” Reed said. “We had to get around in front of him and give weak side help and we did a good job of it tonight.”
The offensive outputs were the lowest point totals of the season for each team. Hartville’s previous season-low point total was 53 against Mansfield in its district title game.
“[Thayer] coach [Matt] Pitts is one of the best defensive coaches around,” Reed said. “That had a lot more to do with them than us playing bad.”
Thayer junior Jalen Andrew pulled the Bobcats within 38-37 with 32.8 seconds to play following Keith’s 3. After Hartville senior Dune Piper missed the front end of a one-and-one, the Bobcats had a possession with a chance at the lead but couldn’t get a good shot off. Jones hit two free throws to put Hartville up 40-37.
“The kids have been there before,” Reed said. “They know what it’s like to play big games and they find a way to grind one out. That’s what they do.”
Hartville will meet Oran (20-8) in the state quarterfinals in Poplar Bluff on March 4 at 1 pm.
FINAL: Hartville 40, Thayer 37
Hartville 11 9 12 8- 40
Thayer 8 6 18 5- 37
Hartville- Deric Jones 18, Wyatt Ward 7, Dune Piper 7, Braden Keith 6, Cody Kelley 2
Thayer- Ayden Stone 12, Kobe Meyer 10, Jalen Andrews 9, Zyman Langley 5, Dagan Jones 1
