By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
They filed into the postgame press conference with long faces, which was understandable. First, it was Mountain Grove coach Duane Hiler, then Carter Otwell and Dylan Massey.
Thing is, it wasn’t the look of disappointment so much as having experienced a whirlwind.
“The first half, they were absolutely unconscious,” Hiler said after Charleston’s 81-68 victory in a Class 3 state basketball semifinal Friday night at Hammons Student Center, where the Blue Jays hit nine 3-pointers in the first half – four from guard Demarcus Sharp – and stiff-armed the Panthers’ fourth-quarter rally.
Sharp scored a game-high 31 points on 12 of 18 shooting and center Mardareyon Clark gladly scored 17 points, five below his 22.4-point average, as he kept flicking the ball out to the Blue Jays’ array of 3-point shooters.
Charleston (25-8) entered as a 27.8 percent 3-point shooting team but was 9 of 14 there before halftime. That’s how a 6-5 deficit in the first quarter turned into a 14-point advantage (33-19) for Charleston over a roughly seven-minute stretch – plus enabled the Blue Jays to weather a start-and-stop game of a combined 43 fouls.
The scoring blitz also was preview of the fourth quarter, given the Blue Jays scored how and when they wanted to. When the Panthers narrowed the gap to 10 points with 6 ½ minutes left, the Blue Jays zipped back to a 16-point advantage within two minutes. Mountain Grove entered having won 30 of 31 games this year.
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“We’ve faced that (foot) speed, I feel like, but they’re a lot quicker when you get up here,” Otwell said. “They’re good players and, we had to see if we were going to contest or let them go. I was trying to keep Sharp from driving and he hit four 3s in the first half. You just tip their cap to them.”
In other words, when it comes to playing Charleston, pick your poison. Clark is an agile, 6-foot-4 senior who for example has thrown down 45, 39 and 35 points this season.
“That’s why we are here right now. People focus on stopping Clark,” Charleston coach Danny Farmer said, pointing out that Clark’s resume features games of 45, 39 and 35 points.
“You’ve kind of got to roll the dice. They’ve got the athleticism and quickness to get by you,” Hiler said. “It seemed like we just couldn’t get a break in the first half. Every time we’d make a run, they’d hit a 3.”
He went on.
“Good lord, they throw athleticism out at all five spots and flat go get it,” Hiler said. “We had some success late when we got out and pressed them. But it was too much early to overcome.”
Massey finished with a team-high 19 points for Mountain Grove, which also saw Conner McNew score 16 while Otwell and Cade Coffman each scored 14 points.
The Panthers trailed 64-54 with 5:51 left after trailing by 18 and forced a turnover. Unfortunately for them, they committed a turnover and couldn’t capitalize the rest of the way.
“We were concerned coming into the game. We knew they could shoot the ball well,” Farmer said. “And we wanted to make it difficult for them defensively with a full-court defense. But at this point in the season, we feel we have to have our game together. I felt we played a great game.”
Charleston plays for the championship at 8:10 p.m. Saturday at JQH Arena. If they win it, it will be the program’s 12th in history, first since 2012.
Meanwhile, Mountain Grove plays at 12:50 p.m. Saturday in the third-place game, also at JQH Arena.
“I’m proud of my kids,” Hiler said. “They battled the whole night.”
