College Heights junior Caleb Quade picked up two personal fouls within a matter of a few seconds in the third quarter on Saturday night in the championship game of the Mercy/Warrior Classic against top-seeded and Class 3 state-ranked Greenwood.
Quade went from two to four personals in short time and the Cougars led 41-38 at the moment Quade earned his fourth with 1 minute, 53 seconds remaining in the third.
By the time Quade returned early in the fourth, College Heights trailed 48-43 and the Blue Jays then continued a 10-0 scoring run for a 52-43 lead on their way to a 68-58 win and Mercy/Warrior Classic title.
“We played well,” College Heights coach Eric Johnson said. “We played hard. Playing a good team, I know I said it last night, but you can’t make turnovers against good teams, though. Some of them were unforced turnovers. We made bad passes and bad decisions. Against a good team, you can’t do that because they took advantage of it.
“It took away a lot of scoring for us (Quade’s departure with four fouls). Yeah, a couple silly fouls he made there … with two, you’ve got to be smarter than that. We need him on the floor all the time. That’s a second scorer right there.”
Tournament MVP Nicholas Burri led Greenwood with 26 points and his 3-point basket at the third-quarter buzzer gave the Blue Jays a 45-43 lead. Burri scored 12 of his points in the fourth quarter, mostly on made free throws.
All-tournament selections Collin Clark and Garrett Winslow added 21 and 16 points, respectively, to a total of 63 points from the trio of Burri, Clark, and Winslow.
Chance Rose scored a late old-fashioned three-point play for his three points and Griffin Litherland fashioned a pair of splits at the foul line into his two points.
Greenwood — ranked eighth in Class 3 — improved to 17-6 overall.
“They’re a good team,” Johnson said. “It’s a positive for us, because we played well and played even with a good team. We have to take everything we can positive out of this and get ready for the next one.”
All-tournament selection Quade scored a team-high 22 points for the Cougars, including six points in the fourth after his return and before he fouled out within the final minute.
College Heights cut the deficit to four points on three different occasions in the fourth quarter, but Greenwood scored 12 of the game’s final 18 points in the last couple minutes of regulation.
All-tournament selection Curtis Davenport added 14 points for the Cougars, while Jayce Walker scored 10, Ethan Ukena had four, Ben Thomas and Bo Sitton each scored three and Colsen Dickens rounded out the Cougars’ scoring with two points.
College Heights dropped to 17-5 overall and the Cougars return to action on Tuesday at home against city and Ozark 7 Conference rival Thomas Jefferson.
The Cougars and the Cavaliers battled on Friday night in the Mercy/Warrior Classic, a game the Cougars won 55-47.
College Heights’ four remaining games before districts also include Ozark 7 clashes with McAuley Catholic and Golden City and then a regular season finale against Sarcoxie.
“We’ve got two next week and two the week after that,” Johnson said. “They’re all conference, except for Sarcoxie. We’ve got to not only prepare for districts, but we’ve got three conference games left. That’s important to us. We need to keep getting better. If we can eliminate turnovers, we can play with any Class 2 school.”
Thomas Jefferson boys 63, Sarcoxie 52
Thomas Jefferson earned third place in the Mercy/Warrior Classic, rebounding from a 55-48 loss against College Heights and reversing the outcome from a 57-32 loss back on Jan. 9 against Sarcoxie.
The Cavaliers turned a tie score at halftime into a 11-point victory Saturday by outscoring the Bears 34-23 in the second half.
“The kids did a nice job of bouncing back less than 24 hours after the tough loss to College Heights last night,” Thomas Jefferson coach Chris Myers said. “We were able to make a couple of halftime adjustments and did a much better job of executing in the second half.”
All-tournament selections Jay Ball and Tyler Brouhard combined for 41 points (Ball 22, Brouhard 19) to lead the way for the Cavaliers and their supporting cast and fellow senior classmates made critical scoring contributions Saturday — Kip Atteberry nine points, Levi Triplett eight, and Tony Touma three more points.
Kohl Thurman rounded out the Cavaliers’ scoring with two points.
Thomas Jefferson persevered in the fourth quarter with both Brouhard and Triplett in serious foul trouble. Brouhard and Triplett each picked up their fourth personal within a short span of each other early in the fourth.
Ball recorded a double-double with his 15 rebounds to go along with his game-high 22 points and the 6-foot-6 post blocked three shots.
Brouhard rounded out his stat line with eight rebounds, five steals, and two blocks, while Thurman grabbed five rebounds and Brouhard, Atteberry, Triplett, and Touma combined for eight 3-point goals with Brouhard at three, Atteberry and Triplett two each, and Touma one.
Thomas Jefferson improved to 15-5 overall and the Cavaliers return to the court Tuesday against College Heights.
Matthew Swayne led Sarcoxie with 20 points, all-tournament selection Jaron Malotte added 16, all-tournament selection Garrett Smith had 11, and Tyler Hirtz added five points.
Providence Academy boys 53, McAuley Catholic 42
Tournament host McAuley Catholic finished sixth, taking a 11-point loss to the Patriots on Saturday after testing both College Heights and Thomas Jefferson in pool games.
On Saturday, 6-foot-4 freshman Alex Bohachick led the Warriors with 12 points, Bradley Wagner and all-tournament selection Noah Black each finished with eight, Rocco Bazzano-Joseph tallied seven, Michael Parrigon added five, and Joe Staton scored two points.
Providence Academy junior Stevens Hunter scored a game-high 23 points.
McAuley Catholic, 6-16 overall, returns home Tuesday for an Ozark 7 Conference game against Golden City.
East Newton girls 43, Thomas Jefferson 27
East Newton built a 16-4 lead after one quarter and never looked back in the consolation game Saturday.
Lannah Grigg led Thomas Jefferson with 10 points, Gabbi Hiebert added eight, Sarah Mueller scored five, and Tannah Cassatt and Nico Carlson each had two points for the Cavaliers.
Shaw Coburn scored 16 points for East Newton, while Brooklyn Blanchard added 11.
Thomas Jefferson dropped to 10-9 overall and the Cavaliers are back on the court Tuesday against their Newman Road rival College Heights.
40th annual Mercy/Warrior Classic
Saturday’s scores
Greenwood boys 68, College Heights 58 (Title game)
Thomas Jefferson boys 63, Sarcoxie 52 (3rd place)
Providence Academy girls 57, Lamar 52 (Title game)
Providence Academy boys 53, McAuley Catholic 42 (5th place)
East Newton girls 43, Thomas Jefferson 27 (5th place)
All-Tournament Selections
Boys
MVP: Nicholas Burri, Greenwood
Collin Clark, Greenwood
Tyler Brouhard, Thomas Jefferson
Curtis Davenport, College Heights
Caleb Quade, College Heights
Jay Ball, Thomas Jefferson
Garrett Smith, Sarcoxie
Noah Black, McAuley Catholic
Cooper Laney, Providence Academy
Jaron Malotte Sarcoxie
Garrett Winslow, Greenwood
Girls
MVP: Karolina Kiraga, Providence Academy
Libby Fanning, College Heights
Zavrie Wiss, Lamar
Lydia Shaddox, Providence Academy
Ava Maner, Providence Academy
Brooklyn Blanchard, East Newton
Kloee Williamson, McAuley Catholic
Payden Blevins, Aurora
Ashlyn Stettler, Lamar
Jaycee Doss, Lamar
Ellie Creasey, Aurora
