By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
After grabbing a pivotal defensive rebound in the final minute, Seymour senior forward Wyatt Henry quickly dribbled to the half-court line.
With multiple defenders in chase, Henry sped up a little more.
Coach Chris Hastings knew what was about to unfold – Henry was going in for a powerful finish at the rim.
“I knew about half-court,” Hastings said. “You could see it in his face. He wasn’t going to pull it out and he was headed for the rim. I was okay with that because I’ve seen him do it many, many times.”
The latest highlight-reel dunk from Henry would clinch Seymour’s second tournament title of the season. The top-seeded Tigers vanquished six-seeded Chadwick 47-38 in the championship game of the Walnut Grove Holiday Classic on Monday night.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Seymour, which won the Strafford Invitational earlier this month, has adopted a “greedy” mindset for its 2025-26 title hunt quest.
“All these tournaments, we’re treating them as if they’re district tournaments or district championships to prepare us,” Hastings said. “That’s our ultimate goal is to win a district title. We want to be greedy this year and sweep all the championships if we can. We have that mindset.”
With 30 seconds to go, Henry put an exclamation point on his tournament-MVP performance with an emphatic two-handed dunk as Seymour was trying to hold off Chadwick’s comeback bid. The dunk pushed Seymour’s lead to 44-36, and Henry finished with a team-high 14 points.
“When he gets a full head of steam like that – we want to pull it out and kill some clock – but when you get a full head of steam and he has the ability to dunk like that, it’s just turn the corner and go,” Hastings said.
Henry, who hung on the rim sideways for a split second, was just glad to land safely on both feet.
“I caught it and really didn’t see anyone in front of me… From there, I guess I just kind of blacked out,” Henry said. “I thought I was going to eat it on that dunk.”
The Tigers roared to life after a sluggish start. Truman Helms’ corner 3 in the waning seconds of the first half put Seymour up 22-14 at halftime. The Tigers started the second half with nine straight points, including a 3-pointer from Henry that pushed the margin to 31-14.
“Credit to Chadwick. They came out with a good gameplan. When you’re in a championship game like this, you have to take the other team’s best punch,” Hastings said. “(Chadwick) kind of took the air out of the (ball) a little bit and slowed it down. We wanted to push the pace.
“We didn’t do that in the first half. We prioritized that in the second half. Also, it helps hitting shots. That brings energy.”
Henry scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half.
“We went into the locker room and went over our mistakes,” Henry said. “I wasn’t playing very well in the first half. I took accountability for my mistakes and we all kind of came together. Teams can separate in moments like that, but we come together.”
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF THE GAME
Chadwick, the No. 6 seed in the tournament, did not go down without a fight. The youth-laden Cardinals crept back within 41-34 with two minutes to play. Junior guard Prestin Kinyon led Chadwick (7-4 overall) with 14 points.
Chadwick upset 3-seed Billings in the quarterfinals then beat 7-seed Pierce City in the semifinals to reach Monday’s title game.
“They’re full of scrappy guards. We knew, coming off back-to-back state championships and all that, they’d be tough and it’d be a hard-fought game,” Henry said.
Helms added nine points for Seymour (9-2 overall). He joined teammates Henry, Reece Hepko and Braylon Johnson on the all-tournament team. Kinyon and Thayor Little made the all-tournament team for Chadwick.
Seymour even brought a small pep club – about 15 students – to cheer on their Tigers Monday night.
“We had people who haven’t seen a Seymour game in a while come to this game,” Hastings said. “For them to travel an hour on Christmas break to do that, we’re just proud of our community, our town and we’re happy that we can bring a championship home.”
Chadwick returns to action this Friday, Jan. 2 at Everton. Seymour’s next game is Jan. 8 at Hartville in a Summit Conference showdown.
Seymour 47, Chadwick 38
Chadwick 9 5 7 17 — 38
Seymour 10 12 16 9 — 47
Chadwick (7-4 overall) – Prestin Kinyon 14 (junior) Thayor Little 7 (soph), Graham Preston 7 (fresh), Cohyn Goetz 5, Bryson Mattix 3, Creek Guerin 2
Seymour (9-2 overall) – Wyatt Henry 14, Truman Helms 9, Nolan Henry 8, Reece Hepko 7, Braylon Johnson 6, Collin Zimmerman 3
