By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Just like the Kickapoo Chiefs earlier in the evening, the Bolivar Liberators won their first Blue and Gold Tournament championship since 2015 on Thursday night with a 67-50 Gold Division victory over Ozark at JQH Arena.
“It means a lot,” Bolivar junior Kyle Pock said of the title. “It’s very special for us to win it since Brandon (Emmert) and Conley (Garrison) (both Bolivar and Drury University stars) did it back in 2015. So, it’s very special.”
It took the first quarter for the Liberators to find their rhythm, but once the second quarter hit, they broke the game open – outscoring Ozark 20-9 for a 33-18 lead going into halftime.
Pock led the way with 11 first-half points, while four other Bolivar players got in the scorebook.
“We were playing really focused, discipline basketball on both ends,” Bolivar coach Robby Hoegh said. “I thought all this year our defense has been there. But these last two games, I felt like we found who we are on offense a little bit more, and part of that was me letting go and letting the kids just play and removing myself from trying to manipulate some of the offense and just trusting them. They’ve been really good decision-makers.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Paced by Greydon Miller’s 11 third-quarter points, the Tigers scratched their way back and outscored Bolivar 21-19, but Bolivar’s offensive firepower was just too much to overcome.
“They hit shots,” Ozark coach Mark Schweitzer said. “You’ve got (Josh) Bowes, he hit a 3; (Cooper) Cribbs hit a couple of 3s, and those are guys that, unfortunately, because of the attention that Pock has to demand, you’ve got to leave some guys open to take shots. And if they’re hitting them, they’re hard to play. Then, the shot-making makes us have to come out and guard, so then that opens up the paint. When you’re one-on-one, 6-foot-2 two versus 6-foot-7, it’s hard to defend that high-low pass.
“But I think our kids played with heart. We’re a gritty bunch. People don’t want to play us at the end of the year. They never do because we will play hard, and my kids did that, even though the score doesn’t reflect that. It looks like just we ran into a buzzsaw, but this was Bolivar’s night. They played well, and credit to them. We didn’t bring our best shooting performance and honestly, the only way that we probably would have played with them tonight is if we would have shot the ball just extremely well, and we weren’t able to do that. So, tip your hat to them.”
With the attention the Pock commands, he is more the happy to do what needs to be done, whether that’s rebounding (he had nine) or setting up his teammates to score (he had six assists).
“I just want to win, so if that’s what’s needed, that’s what I’ll do,” Pock said. “If I don’t score at all, and we win, that’s good, too. I just want to win.”
And winning, Bolivar has done. The Liberators remain undefeated at 12-0 and will bring the Gold Division trophy back home to Bolivar.
“I’m just thankful for the kids in the community,” Hoegh said. “What we want to provide as coaches is opportunities for these moments that they’ll remember and, and hopefully latch on to that. They’ll think, you know, 20 years down the road, ‘guys, that there’s something a little bit more substance than a trophy, and that’s perseverance, persistence, joy for others, things that are going to matter for our community and their family.
“So certainly, in the instance of this, it’s just a tremendous amount of happiness and joy to see the kids happy, and it’s a tremendous accomplishment to play four games in four days and win them and be really behind the eight ball in the Central game (a 54-51 win), and then come out these last two games like gangbusters. It was a really fun tournament.”
(1) BOLIVAR 67, (2) OZARK 50
Blue and Gold Tournament
Gold Championship
OZARK 9-9-21-11—50
BOLIVAR 13-20-19-15—67
(2) OZARK (8-5) – Ethan Whatley 11, Tyler Harmon 10, Colton Ballard 2, Greydon Miller 13, Jace Whatley 7, Devyn Wright 7.
(1) BOLIVAR (12-0) – Kyle Pock 23, Lukas Gabani 10, Josh Bowes 19, Cooper Cribbs 10, Kaden Griswold 5.
Third place: Greenwood 65, Republic 62
Fifth place: Ava 51, Strafford 47
Consolation: Aurora 65, Stockton 52
