First-half lead slips away from Cavaliers in championship
Dec. 4—DIAMOND, Mo. — Thomas Jefferson and Jay Ball got off to a quick start in the championship game of the Gem City Classic at Diamond High School on Saturday night. The Cavaliers were up 33-25 at the intermission and Ball had dropped in 16 points.
But it was a tale of two halves, and the El Dorado Springs Bulldogs only allowed seven points to Ball in the second half and went on to win 58-53.
TJ (4-1) seemed to have control of their Class 3 opponent throughout the first half. But then the turnover bug bit them in the third quarter as they saw El Dorado go on to win that period 23-8.
"We obviously didn't take care of the ball real well in the third quarter," Thomas Jefferson head coach Chris Myers said. "And when you don't have the ball it's hard to get him (Ball) the ball, so that was a change. But Jay Ball's going to get a lot of attention every single night. He's going to get two or three defenders no matter who we play all night. Says a lot about the kind of player he is. But it says a lot about our other kids on our team who really stepped up and kept us in the game."
Part of that big third period for the Bulldogs came on a 15-0 run following two free throws from Ball to begin the quarter. Tournament MVP Landon Murry scored five consecutive with a 3-pointer and a layup. Then Joe Gordon added a layup and a free throw for a three-point play. Grant Ehlers scored five in a row with a layup and then a triple. The run was capped off with a Kuliath Kephert layup to make it 40-35 in favor of EHS.
"We knew they were going to come out throwing a haymaker, a team like that, a big school, we knew we were going to get their best effort coming out of the half," Myers said. "I thought our kids played well and did a great job to get that lead. But we knew there was going to be a big surge from them. I felt like we fairly weathered it, stayed in the game. Would've been real easy to fold right there ... but our kids kept battling and made it a heck of a game in the fourth quarter."
The Cavaliers had some timely shots from beyond the arc in the final stanza but couldn't get enough of them to complete the comeback.
Down seven, TJ got a triple from the guy with the last name Triplett. Levi Triplett stepped into one from the left wing to make it 48-44. Then, the Cavaliers found themselves down 52-47 when Kip Atteberry lined one up from the left corner and buried it to bring them within two. Down seven again, 57-50, Tyler Brouhard dribbled up and fired one up a couple feet from the three-point line and made it while being knocked over. Brouhard missed his free throw and Thomas Jefferson didn't get any closer.
The Cavaliers were led by Ball with 23 points and 13 rebounds for another double-double. Brouhard finished with 17 and four 3-pointers.
The Bulldogs also had two in double figures with Murry's 19 and Kephert's 14.
"For Landon Murry to have a brand new coach, a brand new system and to be able to learn that system and implement it in two to three weeks, and then execute the way he did against Carthage (JV), Mount Vernon and then again tonight," El Dorado Springs head coach Brian Johnson said. "A definite leader.
"I told my players 'They're going to skip it across. They're going to look inside. When they throw it to (Ball), if he gets his hands on it, he will score inside. We're either going to foul him or he will score.' and he was just a class act. Even after the game was over he came over and talked to me a second ago. Really a nice kid, polite kid. I'll look forward to seeing him play in college."
Thomas Jefferson plays at Everton on Tuesday.
Ball and Brouhard earned all-tournament team for Thomas Jefferson. Murry and Kephert earned all-tournament team for EHS. Murry was tournament MVP. Trent Yates from Carthage JV also picked up all-tournament team recognition.
