Purdy advances to program’s first Final Four with win over Crocker

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By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

It took a while, but Jeremy Dresslaer finally cracked a smile after hearing the cheers from his fans and former players…

The wait is over.

For the first time in program history, Purdy is headed to the Final Four following a 70-64 Elite Eight win over Crocker Saturday at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.

“This is history,” said Dresslaer. “This is the first time any boys team has made it to state in anything. It’s good. I told our guys that making it to the Final Four is kind of like the land of immortality in the world of basketball. We made it and you can hear the excitement.”

In a game that Dresslaer doesn’t believe was his team’s best basketball, it took roughly four minutes of their best effort to take control of the game.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME

With the game deadlocked at 13 – and offense not coming very often or easily – Purdy mounted a 17-6 run to end the first half.

The run gave the Eagles control of the game and a lead they wouldn’t give up.

“We got back to doing what we do,” said Dresslaer. “The first quarter we got great shots, but when you get great shots and they don’t go in it makes playing basketball hard. The kids got down on themselves for playing bad, which they weren’t, but when we started making layups and settling into what we do – going fullcourt and getting into transition – it helped our run.

“I was pretty heated for a little bit, I feel like we didn’t execute well or play Purdy Basketball. This whole game is survive and advancing and the more minutes that go by, the more I’m excited.”

Maybe the biggest key to Purdy’s win was again its ability to defend big-time scorers. On Wednesday in Sectionals against Blue Eye, the Eagles held standout Andrew Mitchell to just nine points, none of which came after halftime.

The Eagles don’t have a single starter taller than 6-feet tall but were able to limit Crocker star Ethyn Boorom, who came in averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds.

He finished with 14 points and seven rebounds on Saturday.

“We didn’t want him to get to the basket,” said Dresslaer. “When you’re the big, we’re going to make you shoot jumpers. He’s so athletic that even when we were blocking out he would just jump over us; we don’t have a 6-foot-5 athlete. But, we made enough plays and got enough stops. He’s a good player, one of the best we’ve played all year.”
Purdy was led by senior Colt Keeling’s 24 points. Classmate Tyler Keeler added 20. Logan Wright led three players in double figures with 21points.

Crocker came up one game short of its first Final Four run in program history. The Lions now say goodbye to 10 seniors and a year that won’t soon be forgotten.

“I’m beyond proud of those guys in there; they’re like my own sons,” said Crocker coach Phillip Gambill. “I have a daughter that’s a senior as well and they’re all really good friends. This is tough, it’s very tough, but like I told them they don’t have a reason to hang their head. If you would’ve told us back in October that we’d be in the Elite Eight I’m not sure we would’ve believed you. It is what it is. We’ve got some great kids that are great students and come from great families in there. Unfortunately, everyone’s high school basketball career comes to an end at some point, for our 10 seniors it happened today.”

For Purdy, the slipper continues to fit. The Eagles historic run will reach the big stage on Thursday at JQH Arena when they lockup with Hayti, a 66-58 quarterfinal winner over state power Hartville.

Dresslaer, who went to a pair of Final Fours as a player at Clever, is now tasked with getting his team refocused to do something else that hasn’t been done.

“We’re just going to go play,” said Dresslaer. “We’re going to try to win it and there’s going to be one state champion, but second, third and fourth are Final Four teams and when people refer to those in ten years when it really sinks in, we’re a Final Four team.”

“We’re going to enjoy every minute of it and I think the boys will be excited to get out of school and play some ball. They’re on cloud nine and the town is on cloud nine, I think everyone is really excited.”

Purdy 70, Crocker 64
Crocker 11-8-18-27 – 64
Purdy – 11-19-20-20

Crocker (22-9) – Wright 21, Shockley 13, Boorom 14, Bryant 5, Gan 1, Porter 1, Combs 8, Fincher 1.
Purdy (24-6) – Keeling 24, Keeler 20, Cook 11, Young 7, Aldava 1, Sanchez 5, Schallert 2.

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