MORAN — Marmaton Valley High crammed a season’s worth of thrills, spills, and finally disappointment, into its opener Thursday.
In the end, too many missed chances — especially from the free throw line — proved to be Marmaton Valley’s undoing in a 58-56 loss to visiting Hartford.
“We had a chance at the end,” head coach Cornell Walls said. “It was a good first game, with a good atmosphere. It was good to get it all out there to begin the season.”
The Wildcats hit on only 11 of 28 charities — 4 of 11 in the fourth quarter alone — and yet, they still had a shot at the end.
Hartford scored five straight points to lead 52-47 before Marmaton Valley’s Brayden Lawson hit a pair of free throws to cut the gap to 52-49 with 1:37 left in the game.
Harfford freshman Coy Wilkinson hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to five, and a pair of missed free throws by Marmaton Valley gave the Jaguars possession once again.
But Jaedon Granere’s steal and layup, followed by a Hartford turnover and subsequent inside bucket by Lawson made it 54-53.
Here’s where the evening went from thrilling to sublime, as the teams traded turnovers like baseball cards.
Daden Wilson went 1 of 2 from the line for the Jaguars, and then Keenan Renfrow came away with a steal inside, was fouled and hit both charities to give Hartford a 57-53 lead with 29 seconds left.
Marmaton Valley missed a 3-pointer, and the ball trickled out of bounds to give Hartford possession. But the Jaguars returned the favor with a turnover, which Marmaton Valley couldn’t take advantage of because of a bad pass on the inbound play.
Hartford had the ball with 16 seconds left, but Marmaton Valley’s Tyler Lord’s quick hands on the Jaguars’ inbound pass prompted a tie-up, giving possession back to the Wildcats.
Lord hit a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left to pare the deficit to 57-56.
A quick foul sent Wilkinson back to the line with :06.2 showing on the clock. He swished the first attempt, and missed the second.
Marmaton Valley’s Brevyn Campbell corralled the rebound, and forwarded the ball to Lawson, who found Lord open just across the half-court line.
Lord’s hurried 3-point attempt was just off the mark. Lawson’s putback attempt also bounced away as the buzzer sounded, sending the Hartford faithful into an ebullient frenzy.
“We finally showed up the last two minutes and decided we wanted to play,” Walls said. “I told the guys if we fought like that the whole game, it’s a different story. We’ll learn. It was our first game, and we’re still a very young team. We’re a work in progress.”
