By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Crane Pirates gave it their best shot.
But when you play Greenwood and five-star guard Aminu Mohammed, that’s often not enough.
Even if you have 25 wins and haven’t lost in two months.
Greenwood rode one of the state’s top players to a second straight district championship on Saturday afternoon at College of the Ozarks.
Mohammed, a 6’5” junior guard, scored 38 and grabbed 20 rebounds to lead Greenwood to a 72-63 victory over Crane in the Class 2 District 11 Tournament title game.
“We got beat by a great team, a great player,” said Crane coach Kevin Smith. “That’s why they are who they are. Nothing to hang our heads about. I’m pleased with how we played.”
Greenwood (25-3 overall) plays Purdy (15-12 overall) at 7:45 p.m. March 4 at Carthage High School in the Class 2 sectional round.
Greenwood is the defending Class 2 state champion. Before last season, the Blue Jays hadn’t won a state title in boys’ basketball since 1942.
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“We’re trying to get back and repeat,” said Blue Jays guard Grant Harper, who scored 11 and had eight assists. “It’s always hard to defend a state title, so we want to do that.”
Greenwood led by seven at halftime, then extended the lead to double digits early in the second half on a 3-pointer from freshman Nic Burri and a three-point play from Harper.
Crane never quite went away despite trailing by double digits for most of the second half.
The Pirates forced Greenwood into turnovers and hung around by making eight 3-pointers. Crane senior Ty Campbell scored a team-high 24.
“We knew it’d be a dogfight, but what we didn’t know was that we’d turn it over every single time – at least it felt like – in the fourth quarter,” Harper said. “That was unlike us.”
But when Crane got too close, Greenwood turned to its star.
Greenwood finally put Crane away for good when Mohammed split a pair of defenders and flushed a two-handed dunk to make it 62-49 midway through the fourth.
“It was hard to counter what Aminu could do,” Smith said. “Whenever in doubt, when they needed a bucket, they went to him. I felt like we could guard all the others straight up, but we had a hard time trying to counter him.
“We did everything we could do. That was our best shot we could possibly give (Greenwood).”
Mohammed scored 24 in the first half, but Greenwood only led 38-31 at halftime.
Crane (25-3 overall) had won 16 straight games coming into Saturday. The Pirates’ only other losses were to Bolivar and Nixa in December’s Blue and Gold Tournament.
The Pirates also won the Southwest Central League and went undefeated at home.
“We had a great year,” Smith said.
Greenwood 72, Crane 63
Crane 12 19 11 21 — 63
Greenwood 14 24 14 20 — 72
Crane (25-3 overall) – Campbell 20, Smith 14, A. Vaught 13, B. Vaught 6, Spyres 5, Woodward 3, Branstetter 2
Greenwood (25-3 overall) – Mohammed 38, Harper 11, Stuckey 8, Pinegar 8, Burri 7
