GRANBY, Mo. — Sadly, all good things must come to an end, as East Newton boys basketball found out on Friday.
The Patriots’ memorable season drew to a close after falling to Blair Oaks 44-40 in the Class 4 quarterfinal round.
East Newton and Blair Oaks took a 34-34 tie into the fourth quarter when the Falcons gained the early edge with the first two baskets before the Patriots answered with four straight points to keep things tied midway through the period.
Blair Oak’s Jake Closser knocked down a corner 3-pointer to break the tie with less than three minutes to play before East Newton’s Gabe Bergen found room inside for a score to cut the lead to 41-40 with two minutes to play.
Quinn Kusgen converted both free throws for the Falcons with 54.8 seconds left to push the lead to 43-40. The Patriots missed a 3-point attempt at the other end, but Blair Oaks missed the front end of a one-and-one trip to the line after the ensuing foul to keep the deficit at 3.
East Newton was unable to convert on the offensive end in the waning seconds and were forced to foul Closser with two seconds left. Closser made his first free throw to put the game out of reach while sending his team to the semifinal round for the second straight season.
“I thought we played with a lot of heart and a lot of guts,” East Newton coach Kyle Fields said. “We played fearless against (a team with a kid who is) 6-9, and I thought we played extremely tough, especially in the first half. You have to make shots late. I thought we had some live-ball turnovers that really hurt us and gave them some chances for baskets. But, I am proud of them.”
A SEASON TO REMEMBER
East Newton ends the season with a 26-3 record, making the school’s first ever appearance in the Class 4 quarterfinal round.
“It’s special,” Fields said when asked his thoughts on the season his team put together. “This is a special group of kids. They’re extremely intelligent, they love one another and they love to come to practice everyday to work. We had our 70th practice the other day and they’re not tired of it. It’s been a lot of fun. The wins are icing. They are the results of all of that.”
SAYING GOODBYE
The Patriots graduate seniors Kyson Lahman, Tanner Youngblood, Connor Killion and Lucas Kimbrough.
“They’ve been playing this game together for a long time and it shows on the court,” Fields said of his graduating class. “The nuances and details of the game are what they’re really good at. That is really hard to teach. That speaks a lot to them and their work, and I think that’s why we’ve had the success we’ve had.”
HOW THEY GOT THERE
East Newton got the raucous, standing-room home crowd involved early after Kimbrough scored in the opening seconds on a runout following the tip from Killion. After an empty possession by Blair Oaks, the Patriots went up 5-0 off a 3-pointer in the corner by Lahman, forcing the Falcons to call the game’s first timeout inside the first minute of play.
“It was great execution against 6-9 on the tip by Killion,” Fields said when talking about his team’s start to the game that ignited the crowd. “What a controlled tip it was, and a good pass. Then, Lahman hitting that 3—it gave us the confidence that we can play, we belong and we can hit some shots tonight.”
The Patriots took that five-point cushion all the way through to the intermission, leading the Falcons 28-23 at the half. Blair Oaks trimmed the lead to one several times but never gained the advantage on the scoreboard through the first two quarters. East Newton’s biggest lead of the first half was eight points—when Killion buried a 3-ball from the wing to make the score 28-20 with 1:42 to play in the second period.
“Our defense is our constant,” Fields said about his team’s play in the first half. “That is our foundation and we lean on that just like we did against Ava. We just didn’t make enough shots late.”
The game’s only real momentum swing came to open the second half when Blair Oaks scored the first six points out of the gate to take its first lead of the game. After two free throws by the Falcons, 6-foot-9 forward Luke Northweather scored inside to trim the lead to one before Kusgen made a floater with 3:18 on the clock to put Blair Oaks up 29-28.
“I thought our offensive execution was really poor,” Fields said of the Patriots’ start to the second half. “We were trying to be patient and look for something we could take advantage of. We ended up turning it over and they got a runout and some easy baskets. It just wasn’t very good execution to start.”
Kelton Sorrell answered with a 3-pointer from the corner to give East Newton the lead back, 31-29, but Closser drained a triple on the next trip down the floor to regain the advantage for Blair Oaks with 2:15 left. Closser added a followup score on the drive to make the score 34-31.
Killion set up a thrilling fourth quarter after banking in a deep 3-pointer from just in front of the halfcourt line at the buzzer to end the third period with the game tied at 34-all.
“He’s been good for us all year,” Fields said of his senior. “He releases the ball so high being a 6-5 guard. He’s good in ball screens and we just tell him that it doesn’t matter where he’s at on the court, let it fly. He has great range and hit some big shots for us tonight.”
SCORING LEADERS
Killion led the way for East Newton with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Sorrell added 10, while Bergen finished with eight.
Northweather led all scorers with 17 points, while Kusgen had 13. Closser also finished in double digits with 12.
