Fort Osage upsets Grandview at William Jewell tournament

An effective zone defense, smart offense, a huge rebound by senior Ty Baker and a couple of free throws by him propelled Fort Osage to a 51-47 upset over Grandview, the defending Missouri Class 4 state champion.

Fort Osage wasn’t perfect, but the Indians had the perfect game plan to come away with the Nelson Division title on Saturday evening in the William Jewell High School Holiday Classic at the Larry Holley Court.

“It takes execution, having confidence in yourself and your team and not doubting anybody,” Baker said. “What we did tonight was pretty special. We are going to celebrate.”

Fort Osage improved to 8-2, and Grandview dropped to 9-2.

Trailing by one entering the fourth quarter, Fort Osage took control right away when junior Triston Turner made a basket to give the Indians a 44-43 lead.

A minute later, the lead grew to three on a basket by Baker. The two most important plays came from Baker in the final 23 seconds. Holding just a 49-47 lead, Baker pulled down a rebound off a Grandview miss.

“Just knowing that we secure the rebound and hit our free throws at the end, we are winning this game,” said Baker, who finished with 15 points. “That was a big momentum swing there. This team deserves it, our coaches deserve it and the school needs this big win.”

Ten seconds after the rebound, Baker was fouled. He went to the line for a 1-and-1 and calmly knocked down both free throws that gave Fort Osage a 51-47 lead with 13 seconds left.

“I had to hit them,” said Baker, who was selected MVP in the Nelson Division.

Grandview’s big men, 6-foot-6 senior Kamto Eze and 6-6 freshman Taj Manning, never were able to get into an offensive rhythm against the zone. They combined for 13 points, but they had 10 blocks.

“We played a mixed-up zone and a sagging man to try to take away their weapons they have inside,” Fort Osage coach Josh Wilson said.

Although Grandview never trailed in the second quarter, the zone used by Fort Osage contained the Bulldogs’ inside game and was one reason why the halftime score was knotted at 26-26.

Fort Osage made some timely shots to stay with Grandview in that first half. The last one came with 45 seconds left in the second quarter when junior Triston Turner hit a three-pointer. Turner finished with 11 points.

“It has been our focal point all year to execute on offense, take care of the basketball, set good picks, basically play together,” Wilson said.

On several occasions, the Indians broke Grandview’s fullcourt press and scored on layups.

Early on, Grandview hurt Fort Osage with three-pointers. The first four baskets the Bulldogs made were threes. Two of them came from senior point guard Deandra Sorrells, which helped stake Grandview to a 12-7 lead. Sorrells led Grandview with 14 points.

For a brief time, it looked like the zone defense wasn’t going to hurt Grandview, especially when Eze stepped out and hit a three-pointer.

But as the half wore on, the three-pointers weren’t falling as frequently for Grandview. The Bulldogs went 5-16 from beyond the arc in the first half. Grandview only made three baskets inside the arc.

Blue Springs South wins Patterson title

Despite blowing a 15-point, fourth-quarter lead, Blue Springs South found the tenacity to pull off the 83-79 victory in the second overtime.

“It was awesome,” said Blue Springs South senior Caleb Israelite, who was picked MVP in the Patterson Division. “Two overtimes and we fought to the end, trusted our teammates and we pulled out the win.”

Two free throws by Israelite with 44 seconds left in the second overtime broke a 77-77 tie. He added two more free throws with 10 seconds left to give the Jaguars a four-point cushion.

“My teammates trusted me to have the ball,” said Israelite, who finished with 21 points. “I got their back, and I knocked down the free throws.”

Blue Springs South appeared to be in complete control early in the fourth quarter when it held a 58-43 lead. Israelite made play after play to help the Jaguars build the double-digit lead.

But Blue Springs cooled down in the fourth quarter, and that opened the door for Park Hill South senior guards Lamel Robinson and Desi Williams. A three-pointer by Robinson, who finished with 33 points, helped Park Hill South close to 66-63. Williams followed with a bucket, making it 66-65 with a minute left.

Blue Springs South junior Khayden Hooks gave Blue Springs South a 68-65 lead with two free throws with 6 seconds left.

And that set the stage for Robinson, who hit an off-balanced three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into OT.

The first overtime was just as thrilling. Park Hill South managed to build a 74-70 lead despite Robinson fouling out.

The Panthers were clinging to a 75-73 lead when Blue Springs South junior Cade Berg made two free throws with 3.7 seconds left to force double overtime.

Rockhurst rolls through Cardinal Division

Rockhurst improved to 11-0 with its 72-56 victory over Center in the Cardinal Division championship game. Holding a slim, 35-33 at halftime, Rockhurst took control late in the third quarter. Rockhurst scored the last seven points in the third quarter and built a 52-44 lead.

The inside play of Rockhurst seniors Darrius Hughes and AJ White was a bit too much for the Yellowjackets to handle. The two players combined for 42 points.

Nelson Division third place: Raymore-Peculiar 59, Staley 55: Led by junior Kian Scroggins’ 21 points, three players scored in double figures in the Panthers’ win. Freshman Iryn Allen scored 12 and junior Matthew Harrison added 10 for Ray-Pec. Sophomore Kendrick Stone finished with a game-high 24 points for Staley.

Fifth place: Winnetonka 66, Blue Springs 60: Winnetonka outscored Blue Springs 17-8 in the third quarter, and that was the difference for the Griffins, who were led by senior Damarius Brown. Brown hit all three of his three-point attempts and was 5 for 6 from the field and finished with 19 points. Blue Springs senior Jay’Von McKinney led all scorers with 20 points.

Patterson Division third place: Raytown 58, Liberty 45: Raytown outscored Liberty 17-5 in the opening quarter. Leading the way for Raytown was sophomore Aaron Franklin, who had 15 points and seven rebounds. Liberty junior Grant Stubbs had a solid game. He scored 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

Fifth place: Lee’s Summit West 70, Oak Park 66: Once again Oak Park senior Ahmed Louis had a monster scoring game, but it wasn’t enough to lead the Northmen to victory. Louis scored 35 and finished the tournament with 117 points in three games (39.0 points per game). Lee’s Summit West countered with 25 points from senior Rich Johnson and 23 from sophomore Vance Avila.

Cardinal Division third place: Liberty North 72, North Kansas City 65 2OT: Liberty North scored 11 points in the second overtime to beat North Kansas City. Seniors CJ Purcell and Brady Pohl each scored 15 and junior Benny Kaplan added 14 for Liberty North. Junior Danthony Pennington scored a game-high 19 points for North Kansas City.

Fifth place: Lee’s Summit 61, Park Hill 50: Lee’s Summit scored 20 points in the first quarter and held Park Hill to eight. The hot start carried the Tigers to victory. Nine players scored at least two points for Lee’s Summit. Park Hill senior Nic Zeil finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.

This story was originally published December 29, 2018 at 5:52 PM.