Mountain Grove downs Catholic for third straight trip to Final Four

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By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

With 52 seconds remaining, Mountain Grove coach Duane Hiler substituted out all five players on the floor. Poetically, the last three to exit were seniors Carter Otwell, Cade Coffman and Conner McNew.

The trio has helped lead the Panthers to 86 wins and counting over the last three seasons with the latest, a 75-54 win over Springfield Catholic, sending Mountain Grove to its third consecutive Final Four.

“It never gets old, it never does” said Hiler. “I’ve been blessed to have kids the last three years that overachieve and absolutely play their guts out. We played a really good Springfield Catholic team today and I thought they brought it, even a man down, and they never blinked.”

It was a 17-12 Grove lead following the first quarter, that’s when foul trouble changed the complexity of the game.

Catholic senior Ian Cochran picked up his second foul in the second quarter. Junior guard Charlie O’Reilly was tagged with his third foul of the quarter, making a team playing without leading scorer Jake Branham even more limited.

Grove started the second quarter with a 9-1 run and led by as many as 15 points, despite senior scoring leaders Coffman and McNew sitting for much of the second quarter due to foul trouble.

Junior post Dylan Massey dominated the first half, scoring 11 points and snagging eight rebounds.

“We haven’t had a post in forever and he gives us that threat. He missed 10 games in the middle of the season with a broken hand and really it let us explore some depth. But since he’s been back, he grabs everything that comes off the rim. Wednesday night he had 16 rebounds and tonight he grabbed a bunch.”

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME

Catholic was able to cut the deficit to 10 by halftime, but an 8-2 run to start the second half – all of which scored by Coffman or McNew – helped the Panthers extend its lead.

McNew led four players in double figures with 21 points. Coffman (15), Massey (13) and Otwell (12) joined. Catholic was led by junior Tyson Riley’s 13 points.

The Panthers now advance to the Final Four, which will be in the comfortable confines of Springfield for the first time in decades. Mountain Grove has won nine of its last 11 games in Springfield, including a perfect 6-0 mark this season.

This group has been through the wars and accomplished everything possible with tournament titles, SCA championships and deep playoff runs. Grove enters the Final Four with a 16-game winning streak and one empty spot in the trophy case for a Class 3 state championship trophy.

“It’s great to be playing in Springfield,” said Hiler. “We get to sleep in our own bed and take a short little drive. They’ll probably say they want to stay in a hotel, but it worked during the Blue and Gold so we’re going to do it in the Final Four too. My first year coaching I was an assistant at Licking and we won a state title in Springfield, so I don’t know, maybe it just goes full circle.”

“They’ve been in big games over the last four years. They just take a punch better than anybody. A lot of times you’ll see teams get hit like that and they’ll wilt. Those guys are like Rocky out there, they take a punch and they keep coming back. They’ve got a short memory and most of all they’re just competitors, they hate losing and you can tell when you watch them play.”

Mountain Grove 75, Springfield Catholic 54
Catholic 12-12-13-17 – 54
Grove 17-17-18-23 – 75

Catholic (22-9) – O’Reilly 10, Manzardo 8, Cochran 6, Riley 13, Brown 3, Morrison 4, Galligos 7, Squibb 4.
Grove (30-1) – McNew 21, Coffman 15, Massey 13, Otwell 12, Veach 4, Newberry 3, Felker 2, Hiler 4, Miller 1.

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