ST. PAUL — Because Thursday, Feb. 29, was Leap Day, it meant the calendar had not turned to March just yet.
Try telling that to Marmaton Valley High’s boys.
The Wildcats gave their fans a season’s worth of March Madness over an action-packed four quarters Thursday in their Class 1A-II Substate Tournament Semifinal.
In the end, Marmaton Valley’s free throw shooting down the stretch made all the difference in a 64-60 win over Waverly.
With the victory, Marmaton Valley (9-11) advances to the tournament championship game at 5 p.m. Saturday against top seed Altoona-Midway (15-6) at host St. Paul. The winner advances to next week’s state tournament in Great Bend.
“If we take care of business on the defensive end, and we limit their offensive rebounds, I like our chances,” Marmaton Valley head coach Cornell Walls said.
The key to Thursday’s victory was maintaining their poise, and relying on its three leading scorers, Brayden Lawson, Jaedon Granere and Tyler Lord, to come up big when it mattered most, Walls said.
“It was a game of runs,” he noted.
Marmaton Valley had the early edge, plowing ahead 14-4 by the early portions of the second quarter, and maintaining a 25-17 lead at the break.
But Waverly had no interest in going away quietly. Ben Meehan, Waverly’s multisport standout, erupted in the third quarter for seven points, while teammate Dustin Foster hit a pair of 3-pointers. The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 12-4 run to knot the score at 29-29.
“Every time we’d get ahead, they’d come back,” Walls said.
The Wildcats regained control, seemingly, in the third quarter, eventually pulling ahead 52-42.
Meehan made things more than interesting with his own 3-point explosion down the stretch, connecting three times in the fourth quarter.
But the Wildcats hit 11 of 13 free throws over that same time period to stay in front.
“It was a great basketball game,” Walls said. “We had several guys step up. They all did a great job.”
