The semifinals are set at the 79th Annual Greenwood Blue and Gold Tournament following a memorable quarterfinal round Friday that featured two games that went overtime, two last second shots, and last second free throws to win a game.
Blue Division: In the opening game of the morning, the unseeded Bolivar Liberators pulled off a major upset, downing the Nixa Eagles 59-56 on Senior Brody Ingold’s long three pointer at the buzzer.
The Eagles had just tied the game 56-56 on Bryce Foster’s three pointer with 21 seconds remaining.
Bolivar, who did not call time out, got the ball in to Ingold, who dribbled across the time line, let the clock run down, then launched the ball just inside the MSU Bears logo beyond the arc and the ball swished through the net just before the buzzer.
Bolivar, who has never trailed, went ahead 4-0 early. Nixa tied the game 11-11 and 13-13 before the Liberators went on an 18-0 run to go ahead 31-13 with over two minutes left in the half.
The Eagles finished the half on a 6-0 run to close the deficit to 11, 33-22 at the half.
Nixa trailed 47-42 at the end of the third quarter, and on back to back possessions down the stretch, had the ball and a chance to take the lead for the first time. Both of those possessions ended in the Liberators stealing the ball.
Brody Ingold’s 21 points led the Liberators, with Colton Ingold adding 13 points.
The Eagles were led in scoring by Jaise Combs with 20 points and Adam McKnight with 19.
Tournament Note: The last time an unseeded team upset a #1 seed in the Blue and Gold Tournament occurred on December 27th, 2004, when Ash Grove beat top seeded Nixa 65-60 in a first round Gold Division contest. The Pirates went on to lose to Mt. Vernon 59-55 in the quarterfinals.
The host Greenwood Blue Jays, seeded 5th in the Gold Division, advanced to the semifinals with a 69-49 win over 4th seeded Strafford.
Greenwood went up by double digits early, leading 20-9 after one period and 39-20 at the half, before opening up a 22 point advantage going into the final eight minutes.
Senior Collin Clark lit up the scoreboard for the Blue Jays, putting in 33 points.
Cody Voysey was Strafford’s leading scorer with 17 points.
The Republic Tigers, seeded 2nd in the Gold Division, won an overtime thriller over 7th seeded West Plains 54-53.
The Zizzers’ Josiah Long, with his team trailing 46-45, was fouled with 0.3 seconds left in regulation. He sank the first to tie the game 46-46.
Republic called time out, and Long’s second free throw was an air ball, failing to touch the rim or the net.
The Tigers held on in the overtime frame as Keiran Govan made one of two free throws with 11 seconds left in regulation to give Republic a 54-53 lead.
Ethan Tuma of the Zizzers put up a shot in the closing seconds that was no good as the Tigers advanced.
The game was back and forth, with the Tigers taking a 15-12 lead after one quarter. West Plains opened up an eight point lead, 31-23 at the half, before Republic pulled within three, 35-32 after three quarters.
Brenley Hagewood led the way for Republic, scoring 24 points.
Jared Kraft led West Plains in a losing effort, scoring 16 points, with teammates Clayton Robbins and Long adding 15 points each.
The Willard Tigers also won a game on a last second shot, getting a jumper from Jude Wallace at the buzzer to edge the Hartville Eagles 48-47 at The Vault.
The Eagles’ slow tempo offense led to a low scoring game, with Hartville leading 9-5 after one quarter and 21-17 at the half.
Willard took a 34-33 lead after three quarters and the teams battled down the stretch.
The Tigers, trailing by three points late in the game, got a layup from Wallace with 39 seconds left before Hartville threw the inbounds pass out of bounds, giving the ball back to Willard with a chance to win it.
Wallace put up an off balance jumper just outside the lane as the horn sounded and Willard players mobbed him at midcourt.
J.J. Huskisson led the Tigers with 12 points, with Blake Daugherty adding 11 points.
Mason Cogdill’s 18 points were tops for the Eagles.
Gold Division: The top seeded Kickapoo Chiefs had little trouble with Aurora, opening up a 20-12 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 41-19 advantage at the half.
The game ended with a running clock as the Chiefs held a 30+ point lead in the final quarter.
The Chiefs were led in scoring by Jackson Shorter, who had 18 points.
The Hillcrest Hornets get the third buzzer-beater of the day at Great Southern Bank Arena, beating Fair Grove 57-55 in overtime.
Sophomore Kyrese Simpson’s layup just ahead of the horn gave the Hornets a come from behind victory, earning a trip to the semifinals.
The Hornets took a 13-10 lead after one quarter, but Fair Grove grabbed a 27-22 lead at the intermission in a low-scoring first half.
The Eagles led 40-37 after three quarters, but Hillcrest fought back in the final period to regain the lead.
Fair Grove’s Spensar Seiger gave his team the advantage with 1:10 left in regulation, hitting a shot to tie the game 52-52, then nailing a free throw after being fouled on the play.
The Hornets got the contest tied 53-53 when Levi Romero made one of two free throw attempts with 46.8 seconds on the 4th quarter clock.
The 2nd seeded Logan-Rogersville Wildcats defeat Springfield Catholic 58-32 to move onto the semifinals.
The Wildcats pulled ahead 25-6 after the opening eight minutes, and never looked back, going up 41-14 at the half and 51-22 through three quarters.
The “turbo clock” was in effect for much of the final period.
Sophomore Chase Branham led the Wildcats in scoring with 24 points.
The final game of the night came down to the very last possession, the fourth such game of the day at Great Southern Bank Arena.
The Branson Pirates, seeded 6th in the Blue Division, held off a late charge by 3rd seeded Ozark to win 52-50.
It was all Branson for three plus quarters as the Pirates went up 21-12 after the first quarter, 38-23 at halftime and 43-34 after the third quarter.
But Ozark fought back, pulling within five in the final six minutes.
Hudson Roberts drained a three pointer for the Tigers with 39 seconds remaining to knot the score 50-50.
But Branson’s Jayce Culver was fouled with 1.8 seconds left in regulation, and he sank both free throws to give the Pirates a 52-50 lead.
Ozark’s half-court heave was off the mark and the Pirates move on to meet Rogersville in the semifinals.
Culver led Branson with 24 points, while Jaxon Dublin scored 15 points to lead Ozark.
Here are the scores from Friday’s quarterfinals of the Blue and Gold Tournament:
Gold Division Quarterfinals (Great Southern Bank Arena):
Final: Bolivar 59, (1) Nixa 56 (Brody Ingold’s long three just ahead of the buzzer wins it for the Liberators)
Final: (5) Greenwood 69, (4) Strafford 49
Final (Overtime): (2) Republic 54, (7) West Plains 53
Final: (6) Willard 48, (3) Hartville 47 (Willard wins on Jude Wallace’s shot at the buzzer)
Blue Division Quarterfinals (Great Southern Bank Arena):
Final: (1) Springfield Kickapoo 71, Aurora 38
Final (Overtime): (4) Springfield Hillcrest 57, (5) Fair Grove 55 (Hillcrest wins on Kyrese Simpson’s layup at the buzzer)
Final: (2) Logan-Rogersville 58, (7) Catholic 32
Final: (6) Branson 52, (3) Ozark 50
Gold Division Consolation Quarterfinals (Hammons Student Center):
Final: Lebanon 62, (8) Camdenton 57
Final: Miller 66, Reeds Spring 39
Final: Clever 39, Marshfield 35
Final: Ava 47, Mountain Grove 40
Blue Division Consolation Quarterfinals (Hammons Student Center):
Final: (8) Willow Springs 77, Buffalo 45
Final: Crane 64, Spokane 21
Final: Sparta 45, Stockton 39
Final: Mt. Vernon 65, Skyline 30
Here’s the schedule for Saturday’s semifinal round matchups at the Greenwood Blue and Gold Tournament:
Gold Division Semifinals (Great Southern Bank Arena)
Bolivar vs. (5) Greenwood 4:00 p.m.
(2) Republic vs. (6) Willard 5:30 p.m.
Blue Division Semifinals (Great Southern Bank Arena)
(1) Springfield Kickapoo vs. (4) Springfield Hillcrest 7:00 p.m.
(2) Logan-Rogersville vs. (6) Branson 8:30 p.m.
Gold Division Consolation Semifinals (Hammons Student Center):
Lebanon vs. Miller 9:30 a.m.
Clever vs. Ava 11:00 a.m.
Gold Division 5th Place Semifinals (Hammons Student Center):
(1) Nixa vs. (4) Strafford 12:30 p.m.
(7) West Plains vs. (3) Hartville 2:00 p.m.
Blue Division Consolation Semifinals (Hammons Student Center):
(8) Willow Springs vs. Crane 4:00 p.m.
Sparta vs. Mt. Vernon 5:30 p.m.
Blue Division 5th Place Semifinals (Hammons Student Center):
Aurora vs. (5) Fair Grove 7:00 p.m.
(7) Springfield Catholic vs. (3) Ozark 8:30 p.m.
After a break from tournament play on Sunday, the Greenwood Blue and Gold Tournament concludes Monday evening with the championship round.
