There are a number of reasons that could be cited for why top-seeded Osage City won’t be in today’s boys championship game of the Flint Hills Shootout.
The Indians made plenty of mistakes on Friday night, couldn’t hit from the outside, allowed some easy baskets and, in the mind of at least one Indian, overlooked their semifinal opponent, fourth-seeded Mission Valley.
And yet, despite all that, Osage City stormed back from a deficit that was at eight points with under a minute to play, and only after Josh Carson’s rushed 3-pointer missed at the buzzer had Mission Valley secured a 54-51 upset to move into the tourney title game.
So, with Osage staying in the game all the way to the wire, it comes down to one number: 12-of-25. That was the Indians’ performance at the free throw line on Friday night — a spot where they’ve had their share of trouble this season — and coach Dennis Fort seemed to know afterward that just a few more makes from 15 feet away could’ve made the difference. Particularly damaging was the Indians’ showing from the line in the second half.
“When you go 1-of-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, you’re gonna struggle — I mean, that’s just the way it is,” Fort said. “And I don’t know why these kids can’t shoot free throws. It’s a mental thing. It’s one of these deals where the harder we work on it, the worse we get. I don’t understand it.”
Osage City (10-2) never led in the game, but every time Mission Valley appeared to be going on the decisive run, the Indians’ full-court press swooped in to force a key turnover or two, leading to easy baskets that helped keep the score close. Trailing 37-29 late in the third, Osage put together an 8-0 minirun to get the game tied in the early stages of the fourth. C.J. Marple hit a jumper in the lane to make it 37-31, then Ethan Michael grabbed a backcourt steal and bounced a pass to Jordan Tice for a layin to cut the lead to four. Marple added a layin off an inbounds pass from Tice to make it 37-35 at the end of the third, then added a second-chance layup high off the glass to even the game at 37.
The Vikings answered with a 7-1 spurt to take a 44-38 lead, then traded baskets with Osage until they led 50-44. With 1:28 left, Tyler Bartee was fouled on a drive and went to the line, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1. TaZarus Isom rebounded for Mission Valley, Osage’s James Schwieger was called for a pushing foul, and Alvin Harris made two free throws to make it 52-44 with 1:18 left to go. Calling timeout six seconds later, it appeared the Indians might be done. But they had a run left in them.
Carson stole a pass in the backcourt off another Isom rebound, and drove in for a layup with 45.7 seconds left. Then Tice got his hands on a steal along the right sideline and got the ball to Carson, who buried a 3-pointer — Osage’s first three of the game — to make it 52-49 with 38.6 seconds left. When Jeremiah Mercer was called for a travel, the Indians got the ball back.
Bartee drove the baseline and was fouled on his shot by Isom with 26.3 seconds to go. But Bartee — who had gone 1-for-5 from the foul line in the second half — was injured, and Michael was inserted to shoot the two free throws. Michael missed both, though, and the Indians fouled Harris with 17.3 to go. He made both free throws to push Mission Valley’s lead to five.
Tice drove for another score to make it 54-51, and Mission Valley called timeout with 5.1 seconds remaining. The Vikings’ Dalton Branch couldn’t get the ball in and was whistled for a five-second call, giving the Indians one last chance to send the game to OT. Mission Valley tipped the inbounds pass out of bounds to the sideline, and just 4.3 seconds remained.
Carson got the ball on the inbounds play on the left side, then gave it up to Michael, Michael dribbled toward the middle, then turned and passed back to Carson, who tossed the shot up quickly, and it missed to the left.
“I was trying to take the shot,” Carson said. “They played pretty good defense, denied me the ball, and we just couldn’t get it done, I guess. Play broke down, and they guarded pretty good.”
The Vikings started fast, jumping out to a 13-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, and less than three minutes into the game, Fort took all his starters out and installed a fresh five. Two minutes later, all five returned. Mission Valley led by as many as nine in the second half.
“Our first three or four possessions of the game, we turned it over, made mental mistakes, simple little mistakes in our offense that we shouldn’t be making,” Fort said. “We weren’t playing hard on the defensive end of the floor. And then once our kids finally figured out that Mission Valley showed up to play, they decided they were gonna try to play with them.”
Tice led Osage with 13 points but made just 3-of-7 shots at the foul line. Marple and Keighley each added eight. Carson, who had seven on just 3-of-10 shooting, said the Vikings surprised Osage with how much they had improved since the two teams played earlier this year, when Osage won 63-42.
“I think we overlooked ’em a little bit,” Carson said “... We knew they’d gotten better, but we didn’t know how much better they’d gotten.”
Isom scored 17 points to lead the Vikings and pulled down a number of big rebounds.
“We’re starting to peak now,” Isom said. “At the beginning, we had a rough start, but now, we’re starting to become the team that potentially we can be.”
While Osage will have to settle for taking on second-seeded Council Grove in the third-place game at 4:30 p.m. today, Mission Valley will take on sixth-seeded Lyndon for the tournament title at 7:30.
Mission Valley boys 54, Osage City 51
Mission Valley 13 14 10 17 — 54
Osage City 7 16 12 16 — 51
Mission Valley — Cook 2-2 0-0 5, Branch 3-5 2-2 8, Harris 1-3 4-4 6, Isom 6-10 5-6 17, Rudeen 5-6 1-1 11, Mercer 0-0 0-0 0, Marcotte 1-1 0-0 2, Lisk 0-2 0-0 0, Fritz 2-6 1-4 5. Totals 20-35 13-17 54.
Osage City (10-2) — Bartee 1-6 1-5 3, Carson 3-10 0-0 7, Tice 5-7 3-7 13, Marple 3-6 2-2 8, Keighley 2-7 4-6 8, Michael 0-4 0-2 0, Schwieger 1-4 1-2 3, Conner 1-3 1-1 3, Heward 1-3 0-0 2, Hallgren 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 19-55 12-25 51.
3-point goals — Mission Valley 1-3 (Cook 1-1, Harris 0-1, Lisk 0-1), Osage City 1-17 (Carson 1-7, Bartee 0-2, Tice 0-2, Michael 0-4, Conner 0-2). Fouled out — Cook, Keighley.
Northern Heights boys 53, Herington 46
Kenneth Bronson’s 15 points led Northern Heights to a win and a spot in today’s fifth-place game at 1:30 p.m.
Bronson knocked down a trio of 3-pointers, and Roman Murray had 11 points for the Wildcats, including two threes. Ryan and Derrek Swanson each added six points. The Wildcats will play Chase County today, while Herington will take on West Franklin in the seventh-place game this morning at 10:30.
Northern Heights boys 53, Herington 46
Herington 15 2 15 14 — 46
Northern Heights 6 11 21 15 — 53
Herington — Erickson 19, Barber 11, Knopp 16.
Northern Heights — Bronson 15, T. Tabares 5, R. Swanson 6, N. Tabares 5, D. Swanson 6, Murray 11, Heins 2, Arndt 3.
Fouled out — None.
Chase County 41,
West Franklin 37
While the semifinals were host to a pair of big upsets later in the night, Chase County scored a more minor one in the afternoon, as the eighth-seeded Bulldogs got 12 points from Shawn Talkington and 10 from Jesse Cole to beat fourth-seeded West Franklin.
Greg Davis had nine points for Chase County, which won the defensive struggle despite scoring just seven points in the first quarter and five in the third.
Chase County 41, West Franklin 37
Chase County 7 14 5 15 — 41
West Franklin 10 6 9 12 — 37
Chase County — Davis 9, Talkington 12, Benjamin 2, Lauer 5, Cole 10, Lang 2, Heathman 1.
West Franklin — Harmon 11, Cunningham 3, Brady 3, Humerickhouse 11, McClain 4, Wadkins 2, Nitcher 3.
Fouled out — Humerickhouse.