Kearney knocked out in Missouri Class 4 basketball quarterfinals by Bolivar

In its trip to the Missouri Class 4 quarterfinals, Kearney mastered the art of the comeback — a factor that began to make the unlikely appear inevitable. So when the Bulldogs fell behind Saturday against Bolivar, even once by double digits, coach Zane Tanner waited for something to happen.

But the comeback never came.

Bolivar eliminated Kearney from the Missouri Class 4 playoffs Saturday with a 52-44 victory at Liberty North High School.

Bolivar, 26-4, will meet St. Charles in the semifinals at 5:10 p.m. Thursday at Mizzou Arena.

Kearney ends its season 14-14.

“Tonight wasn’t good enough,” said Kearney senior Pierce Moling, who scored a game-high 15 points in the loss. “We fought hard, but we didn’t get enough stops, especially in the third quarter, to win.”

An admirable defensive effort kept Kearney in the game during the first half, and it trailed 23-19 at halftime, despite an inability to knock down perimeter shots.

But the Bulldogs couldn’t find a way to stop Bryce Krueger after the break. Krueger scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, when Bolivar extended its advantage to 10 points. Kearney never led after halftime.

“They attacked us and scored in the third (quarter) some, but they got a lot of their points in transition because we just couldn’t hit shots, and that allowed them to run out on the break,” said Tanner, in his first year with Kearney. “It was two good teams going at it, and we fell on the short end of it.”

Case Jones and Johnny Scott also scored 14 apiece for Bolivar.

Junior forward Ryan Hoffman added nine points in the losing effort for Kearney.

This story was originally published March 14, 2015 at 8:56 PM with the headline "Kearney knocked out in Missouri Class 4 basketball quarterfinals by Bolivar."