By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
There is no better word to describe William Pope than clutch.
Four times in the final 20 seconds of Saturday’s Mark Twain Conference Tournament championship – with his team trailing or tied – Pope stepped to the foul line and knocked down free throws.
The senior guard finished with a game-high 23 points to lead Hurley to a MTC title win over School of the Ozarks, 59-58, in a game that featured two ties and two lead changes in the game’s final 20 seconds alone.
“That was probably exciting, from the standpoint of the crowd, but that was one of the most stressful 90 seconds I’ve ever had,” said Hurley coach Ryan Yates. “I have a lot of respect for that team. They’re good and I feel like we beat a really good team tonight. It was a lot of fun to coach.
“William likes that stress and he wants that load on his shoulders. He did the same thing against Verona earlier in the year in a similar situation. He’s one of the guys we don’t mind having with the ball in that kind of situation.”
Setting up Pope’s free throw excellence was a furious final 90 seconds.
Free throws gave Hurley a 55-53 lead. S of O senior Zach Martin then drilled a corner 3-pointer to give the Patriots a 56-55 advantage. Martin finished with a Pope, following a turnover of his own, responded with a steal and subsequently knocked down his first pair of free throws.
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The Patriots countered with another score, a runner by senior Nate Brown. Martin scored a team-high 20 points, Brown added 18.
Pope was preparing to attack the rim in the game’s final moments but a blocking foul against Brown sent Pope to the free throw line for the final time.
The first half saw the two teams trade a pair of haymakers.
Hurley struck first, scoring 14 of the game’s first 18 points to grab a 10-point lead. Midway through the second quarter that lead evaporated behind a 23-6 run by S of O.
From that point on neither team could maintain momentum or establish another extended run.
“We like to trap out of our man pressure and we were able to jump them early and force some turnovers, but they adjusted really well and that’s what changed,” said Yates. “We kept doing it because that’s our identity.”
After starting 0-3, S of O had won eight of its last nine games entering Saturday with the lone loss coming to state-ranked Class 3 Mountain Grove.
Patriots coach Jerry Martin, who finished the game with multiple sophomores on the floor at times, believes much like the start of the season, Saturday can be a learning experience for his squad as they continue to establish new roles after losing the core of a program that has averaged more than 20 wins a season since 2014-15.
“This is massive, just like the Forsyth Tournament at the beginning of the season,” said Martin. “We came out 0-3 and then won seven games in a row. We had two sophomore guards on the floor late tonight and they were exposed to a trial by fire and that’s good. We play these guys again on Tuesday night in conference play and even with some of our mistakes we’re right there at the end with the lead and a chance to win. We took some silly shots and had some turnovers, which are some things I don’t even have to tell them about because they know, they’re competitors. This was a great battle with a lot of heart on both sides.”
Chase Simpson scored 17 points for Hurley, Justin Wilson added 11.
For Hurley, Saturday was win No. 11 in a row.
The Tigers, an afterthought with a new coach to start the season, now own wins over Verona, Halfway, Fordland and School of the Ozarks. Undefeated since Christmas Day, Hurley is quickly adding its name to the list of teams capable of making a run in Class 1.
“You look at us and we don’t look very impressive warming up,” said Yates. “I don’t know how many times before a game I’ve thought that it’ll be a rough one and we go out and get a win. That’s a testament to our kids. They’re buying into what we’re selling, and we’ve spent a lot of time working on what we do.”
Hurley 59, School of the Ozarks 58
Hurley 15-11-16-17 – 59
S of O 10-17-10-21 – 58
