By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SPRINGFIELD – When Nixa’s game tipped off on Thursday evening, no local team had advanced to the Tournament of Champions semifinals since the Eagles did it nine years ago.
When the final horn sounded, the streak extended in the most heartbreaking way imaginable.
Ohio State signee Bruce Thornton hit a long 3-pointer as time expired in the fourth quarter, sending Milton to a dramatic 50-49 victory over Nixa in a first-round matchup at JQH Arena.
The Alpharetta, Georgia-based high school will face Paul VI at 9:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals. Nixa fell to the consolation bracket and will face Sprinfield Catholic at 6 p.m. Both will be in JQH Arena.
“It’s hard to grasp,” Nixa coach Jay Osborne said. “Kids are pretty hurt in the locker room right now – as they should be. We don’t have time to pout. You can’t sit around and whine about it. We had opportunities. We didn’t do it. We’ll wake up tomorrow, regroup, come over here and see if we can get a little bit of a better effort.”
Nixa led by as many as seven points in the third quarter, but the nationally ranked Milton remained close by capitalizing on 19 turnovers throughout the evening. Also nicknamed the Eagles, Milton closed the third quarter on a 10-3 run to pull even as the teams began the fourth.
With Thornton (21 points) and Northeastern commit Chase Cormier (10 points) leading the way, Milton rallied to a 43-39 advantage with 3:37 remaining — which tied its largest lead of the night.
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But Collin Ruffin, who scored nine of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, and Kael Combs kept Nixa close, and Combs hit a go-ahead trey with 2:28 left to give Nixa a 46-45 lead.
That was the first of four lead changes in the final moments, with Combs hitting another layup for a 48-47 lead with 1:50 remaining. But Nixa went just 1-of-4 from the free-throw line after that shot — and finished 13-of-22 in the game — which set the stage for Thornton’s heroics.
Milton collected the rebound of a missed free-throw with five seconds left and ran down court, then tossed it back to Thornton. That gave the 6-foot-3 guard just enough space to hit the shot.
“Bruce is a phenomenal player,” Milton coach Allen Whitehart said. “Has been for four years. Making plays like that has been a part of his DNA since he walked through our doors.”
The ending salvaged a victory for a Milton team that struggled to adjust to Nixa’s defensive schemes and the pace of play, as the locals took advantage of the absence of a shot clock.
“They controlled every aspect of the game,” Whitehart said. “We’ve been playing with a shot clock in Georgia, so it changes up things dramatically. We defend 35 seconds and then it’s going the other way, so it was a little different for us to get back in that realm.”
Nixa held Kanaan Caryle, a 6-foot-4 junior who has committed to Stanford, to five points. LT Overton, who is considered the top football recruit in the Class of 2023, added six for Milton.
Combs, a coveted recruit in both basketball and football, had 12 for Nixa.
“The kids played hard,” Osborne said. “This is a hard one, you know? You don’t get to play people like this very often and you have to take advantage of that. I thought we had a missed opportunity tonight.”
Milton scored 15 points off turnovers, which allowed them to remain competitive after shooting just 43.5 percent from the floor. Nixa also held a 32-20 advantage on the boards.
“What do they say?” Whitehart said. “An ugly win is better than a pretty loss. And it was ugly. … I don’t think we did anything really well other than hit the last shot.”
Unfortunately for Nixa, that proved to be enough to win.
“The last two times we’ve been over here we’ve gone to the right (side of the bracket) and played in the semis and it’s been really special,” Osborne said. “I was hoping for our team and our kids to experience that. It’s not going to happen, but we’ll make a good showing tomorrow.”
MILTON 10 9 15 16 — 50
NIXA 10 11 13 15 — 49
