The host Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers and the visiting McAuley Catholic Warriors found ways to make their third game of the season against each other even better than their previous two meetings that had been determined by a total of seven points.
Early on, the game looked nothing like anything that would resemble a close one determined at the final buzzer.
The Warriors found themselves in a 12-1 hole after one quarter and they did not make their first basket of the game until 5:16 remained in the first half.
The Cavaliers saw their 12-1 lead after one quarter turn into a 35-32 deficit early in the fourth after the Warriors outscored the home team 34-20 in the second, third and early fourth following that 11-point advantage for the Cavaliers.
Thomas Jefferson seniors Tyler Brouhard and Levi Triplett made five of six free throws within the final 45.6 seconds to put the Cavaliers ahead 46-42 with 12.3 seconds remaining.
McAuley Catholic senior Jack Jones made a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds on the clock and fellow senior Noah Black came up with a steal on the ensuing Thomas Jefferson possession and passed it to sophomore Michael Parrigon for an open 3-pointer at the buzzer that rimmed out and left Thomas Jefferson with a 46-45 Senior Night win on Thursday.
“It doesn’t matter how pretty it is, it’s that time of the year just finding ways to get it done,” Thomas Jefferson coach Chris Myers said. “The boys did a good job of finding a way to get it done. We had some seniors step up and knock down some big free throws late that sealed the deal. I know it didn’t go smooth as we wanted it there at the end, but smooth enough.
“They’re the kind of shots you have to have at this time of year. Again, games like this are great going into districts, because you’ve got to figure it’s going to come to this down the stretch as you get into districts so having the confidence to knock those down and seeing those go through in a game like this hopefully will pay dividends down the road.”
McAuley Catholic outscored Thomas Jefferson 44-34 over the final three quarters.
“I am very proud of our effort defensively and just our fight in general,” McAuley Catholic coach Tony Witt said. “The ball just did not seem to want to go in during that first quarter and it says a lot about their character to dig in defensively and try and dig themselves back in the game.
“Jay Ball’s a load and we didn’t have an answer for him. There’s a reason that he’s one of the best players in the state in Class 1. He took over late, but all the credit to my guys. They didn’t let him scoring on them deter them from still playing defense and still trying to muscle up with him and trying to get answers. It was a great effort from our guys.”
Ball finished with a game-high 20 points, as well as eight rebounds and three blocked shots, to lead the way for the Cavaliers.
Brouhard added five points, 12 rebounds, and three steals, while Triplett had 12 points, Kip Atteberry five points and three assists, Kohl Thurman two points and five rebounds, and Ethan Renger rounded out the Cavaliers’ scoring with two points.
“I’m excited for him,” Myers said of Triplett, who finished with eight of his 12 points in the fourth. “He’s been a good player for us all year. He’s had to step up at times, and excited to see him step up tonight and knock down those big shots on Senior Night, for sure.”
Thomas Jefferson wraps up the regular season 18-6 overall and 5-1 in Ozark 7 Conference play, and the Cavaliers are the top seed in the upcoming Class 1 District 7 Tournament hosted by Golden City.
The Cavaliers and the Warriors could meet for a fourth time on their fourth different court this season in the district semifinals.
“Wednesday would be the district semifinals and all signs are pointing to having the opportunity to play them again,” Myers said. “Tony does a good job with them, and we fully expect they’ll come out ready to play in that first round. We’ll be ready, though, whether it’s Sheldon or McAuley.”
Rocco Bazzano-Joseph sparked McAuley Catholic offensively with 14 points and made three 3-pointers, while Bradley Wagner added eight points, Jack Jones seven, Parrigon six, Joe Staton and Kable Reichardt three each, and Black and Tripp Miller two points each.
McAuley Catholic ends the regular season at 7-19 overall and 1-5 Ozark 7, and the Warriors open district play Monday night against Sheldon, a 16-8 team which defeated McAuley Catholic 43-40 at home back on Jan. 10.
Close games have not been kind to McAuley Catholic this season, but the Warriors are hoping they can get hot at the right time of the season and find ways to win the close ones.
“This is what we’ve been preaching to our guys,” Witt said. “This is now the 11th game that we’ve lost by 31 points. We’ve been in close games. Hopefully, the first 26 have prepared us for the next one and that’s the one that matters. We know that we’re better than 7-19. We know we’re better than that. We lost to Sheldon by three earlier this year, we know that and we’re ready to go.”
THOMAS JEFFERSON GIRLS 56, MCAULEY CATHOLIC 42
The Cavaliers and the Warriors closed out their regular season with one another Thursday and then they will turn around five days later to play each other again in the Class 1 District 6 semifinals in Liberal.
In their game Thursday, Thomas Jefferson outscored McAuley Catholic 32-12 in the first and fourth quarters, while McAuley Catholic put together a 30-24 advantage in the second and third quarters.
The Cavaliers scored the last 12 points of the first quarter after an early 5-all score and then later their superior depth caught up with the Warriors in the fourth after McAuley Catholic entered the fourth down only 41-35.
“I thought our girls came out and played hard tonight with a short bench,” McAuley Catholic coach Mike Howard said. “We’re missing our post player Lily (Black) tonight. She wasn’t here. She had a death in the family, and family is more important than basketball. She’ll be back on Tuesday and that will definitely help us out being able to guard the middle.
“We did a decent job defensively overall for the night, but they just made more shots than we did. We will go back and watch film and try and make some adjustments and try and come out Tuesday and try to beat them in the game that matters.”
Kloee Williamson and Vanessa Diaz each led McAuley Catholic with 11 points, Brooke Righter and Kendall Ramsey each scored eight points, and Avery Gardner had four points.
Thomas Jefferson guarded Williamson tightly from the moment the teams stepped on the floor Thursday. Cavalier freshman Haley Orr took on the challenge most of the night, but Sarah Mueller, Kiera Onyango, and Nico Carlson also had turns shadowing Williamson.
“We’ve faced the box-and-1 a few times this year with Kloee,” Howard said. “The other girls have figured out they need to step up and do something. I thought all of them did a great job of stepping up. We’ve been working with Vanessa on her footwork last couple weeks, so it showed out there tonight. Avery had some great passes to set up some baskets.
“It’s tough for Kloee to be guarded box-and-1 all game, but I thought she did a tremendous job considering the defense that was being played on her. She did a good job of getting open and attacking when she had the ball in her hand and creating some open opportunities for other girls. I’m just really proud of all of them tonight.”
McAuley Catholic ends the regular season 9-17 overall and 3-3 Ozark 7.
Thomas Jefferson’s Gabbi Hiebert led all scorers with 26 points, Lannah Grigg had 11 points, and Mueller’s 10 points gave the Cavaliers three scorers in double figures, while Macie Shifferd added four points, Orr and Carlson two each, and Tannah Cassatt one.
Thomas Jefferson finishes the regular season 13-10 overall and 4-2 Ozark 7.
