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SportsFebruary 25, 2015

BELL CITY, Mo. -- The second-seeded Advance boys basketball team went into Tuesday night's Class 2 District 1 semifinal with one primary goal in mind: get the ball to sophomore Dawson Mayo.

Advance's Dawson Mayo shoots over Bell City's Bobby Wright during the third quarter of a semifinal in the Class 1 District 2 tournament Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015 in Bell City, Missouri. (Fred Lynch)
Advance's Dawson Mayo shoots over Bell City's Bobby Wright during the third quarter of a semifinal in the Class 1 District 2 tournament Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015 in Bell City, Missouri. (Fred Lynch)

BELL CITY, Mo. -- The second-seeded Advance boys basketball team went into Tuesday night's Class 2 District 1 semifinal with one primary goal in mind: get the ball to sophomore Dawson Mayo.

Mayo scored 13 of his 21 points in the first half, and the Hornets outscored No. 3 Bell City 21-10 in the second quarter to pull away for a 67-46 win at Bell City High School.

"That was our plan. We were wanting to feed him and get him sealed down low," Advance coach Dennis Wheetley said. "We did a pretty good job at it. He finished most of the time, so I think that was the difference in the game."

Mayo said the Hornets' plan was to take advantage of their size. Advance's shortest starter stands at 5-foot-11, while the Cubs' tallest starters are 5-10.

"We knew we needed to get the ball inside," Mayo said. "Once they started collapsing, we could kick it out to our guys and hit the 3s, so it was in-and-out."

Advance (15-10) will take on top-seeded Oran in the district final for the fifth consecutive season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

"We wanted to get to this final game again, and of course, we want to win," Wheetley said. "I think the kids are playing hard. We had some turnovers that we're going to have to work on tomorrow to get ready for Oran because I know they're going to be tough. ... We know what to look for and they do, too, so we've just got to come out and be ready."

Bell City (12-15) led for most of the first quarter. After Bobby Wright drained a 3-pointer from the top right of the key with 1:23 remaining in the period, Dalton Wilson answered on the other end with a conventional three-point play that put the Hornets ahead for good.

Brian Whitson hit a trey from the left corner on the first possession of the second quarter to push Advance's lead to six points. Whitson finished with 13 points.

"We've got a couple guys that can hit those 3s who are pretty good shooters, and if they can knock down a few shots, it just makes all the world of difference," Wheetley said. "Tonight we had the inside game, and it opened [the outside shooters] up more."

Advance's Dalton Wilson puts up a shot against Bell City's Nate Finney during the second quarter of a semifinal in the Class 1 District 2 tournament Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015 in Bell City, Missouri. (Fred Lynch)
Advance's Dalton Wilson puts up a shot against Bell City's Nate Finney during the second quarter of a semifinal in the Class 1 District 2 tournament Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015 in Bell City, Missouri. (Fred Lynch)

Wilson scored six of his 16 points in the second quarter as the Hornets took a 38-24 advantage into the break.

"I thought Dalton stepped up and played a good game, too," Wheetley said. "He drove to the basket and made things happen."

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The Cubs turned the ball over 17 times, but it was a number of missed shots that led to their demise.

"We had good looks. We just couldn't hit anything," Bell City coach CJ Hadley said. "On defense, I felt like we kind of let Mayo get off a little bit, and we didn't adjust fast enough. I think that was the worst shooting night we've had."

Cole Nichols stole the ball and converted a layup at the other end to cut the Hornets' lead to 43-30 with 4:28 remaining in the third period, but Advance closed the quarter on an 8-3 spurt and led 51-33 heading into the final period.

Nichols and Nate Finney each finished with 10 points for Bell City, while Bobby Wright contributed a team-high 11 points.

The Cubs are expected to return five starters to next year's team. Hadley hopes his team can carry over a valuable lesson from this year's experience.

"We're only losing two seniors. We've got a bunch of sophomores and juniors," Hadley said. "Bringing back everyone is kind of exciting. I know things that we can do and work on. I've had these guys since junior high, so it's really good not to lose all of them."

Preston Wuebker added 11 points for Advance.

Wheetley was pleased with the way his team was able to consistently apply pressure on defense.

"We never let up," Wheetley said. "We made them work for everything they got."

Bell City 14 10 9 13 -- 46

Advance 17 21 13 16 -- 67

BELL CITY (46) -- Bobby Wright 11, Cole Nichols 10, Nate Finney 10, Peyton Maddox 8, Austin Hicks 3, Brandon Abner 2, Logan Yates 2. FG 17, FT 7-11, F 20. (3-pointers: Wright 2, Hicks 1, Nichols 1, Finney 1. Fouled out: None.)

ADVANCE (67) -- Dawson Mayo 21, Dalton Wilson 16, Brian Whitson 13, Preston Wuebker 11, Austin Ladd 4, Armani Vermillion 2. FG 24, FT 16-20, F 16. (3-pointers: Whitson 2, Wuebker 1. Fouled out: None.)

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