Advance boys basketball team takes third Class 1

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- With his team feeling like its season was all but over after a disheartening semifinal loss, Advance forward Austin Ladd took it upon himself to provide the Hornets with a spark to end the season strong.

With 1 minute, 49 seconds remaining in the first quarter of the Class 1 third-place game, the 6-foot-2 junior caught a pass from senior Dalton Wilson at halfcourt before dribbling all the way to the basket and finishing with an emphatic slam dunk while being fouled.

Ladd's basket proved to be a pivotal one for Advance, which went on to claim a convincing 69-53 victory over Leeton on Friday at Mizzou Arena.

"I just thought that we didn't have a whole lot of intensity," Ladd said. "We had some, but I knew we could go over the top with it. I just figured I had to do something to just put us over and keep us going. That made us push a little bit harder, play a little bit harder and even got me going when I realized I dunked over the guy. I didn't even know he was there. He surprised me really and scared me a little bit on my way down, but I'm just glad it went in."

Ladd also provided most of Advance's offense very early on.

After Leeton took a 2-0 lead on its first possession, Ladd scored the Hornets' first six points of the game and gave his team its first lead of the game two minutes into the first.

"He came out to play. I thought he had his best game of the year," Wheetley said about Ladd. "When he got the big dunk, I mean, I think that got us fired up. We stepped it up after that and that got the guys going."

Leeton responded hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to regain the lead at 8-6 with 4:37 remaining in the first, but Advance senior Dalton Wilson scored 30 seconds later to tie the game.

Leeton took the lead again at 11-8, but Wilson scored the next two baskets to give Advance the lead for good. His basket at the 2:50 mark also made the Bulldogs guard Wilson a lot closer for the remainder of the game.

"He has me take people out of games and try to deny everybody the ball," Leeton's Alex Smith said referring to the game plan Leeton coach Rick Mills had developed for him to slow down Wilson.

While they did shut Wilson down for the remainder of the opening period, the Bulldogs left Ladd and junior Brian Whitson unguarded.

After a miss by the Bulldogs with 2:01 left in the first, Ladd's dunk made Leeton rethink its defensive strategy.

"It worked, but who would have thought [Ladd] and [Whitson] -- we scouted them, and they had career nights," Mills said. "That's what has to happen. We felt we took their best player out of the game, but [Ladd] stepped up, [Whitson] stepped up. They stepped up and hit big 3s, especially in the first half where I'm looking up there and I'm going 'Where are these guys coming from?' They're good players, but they're not the ones that are going to take the shots, [Wilson] is."

Whitson hit his second 3 of the game after a Leeton turnover to cap a 14-0 run for Advance, which led 22-13 at the end of the first.

Leeton opened the second on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 24-20. Advance freshman Armani Vermillion scored his second basket of the game on the Hornets' next possession, which started a 10-6 run and increased their lead to 34-26.

Ladd had six points during that stretch while Vermillion added four.

Each team added a free throw and a basket in the final two minutes of the first half with Advance holding a 37-29 advantage at the break.

Preston Wuebker scored his only points of the game with back-to-back 3's at the start of the third.

Whitson scored the Hornets' next four points before Wilson closed out the third with four straight points to extend the lead to 53-36 headed to the fourth.

The Bulldogs were limited to just 10 shots and were outscored 16-7.

Leeton had its worst quarter of 3-point shooting in the third (1 for 6) and was just 9 of 24 (38 percent) from behind the arc in the game.

"James and Dylan, they both shoot over 40 percent from the 3-point line," Mills said. "We like to get the ball into [Wyatt] Fleming in the high post and kick it out to them and try to drag it in, but we have been a team that shoots 3s a lot. But that's not our No. 1 focus. Our No. 1 focus is to take it inside with [Levi] Manley and Fleming, but making nine 3s is not unusual for us."

Wheetley said rebounding was another big key to his team's win. After being outrebounded 19-5 in the second half of its semifinal loss, Advance won the rebound battle 40-33 against the Bulldogs and converted 16 second-chance points.

"We talked about that before the game," Wheetley said about his team's rebounding. "We knew they were big, strong and that was their biggest asset I thought going into it. It was their rebounding and their size. But these kids stepped up. I think we were even at half and in the second half I thought we really turned it on. It kind of helped us get some needed points and the win mixed in with some other stuff. "

Leeton 13 16 7 17 -- 53

Advance 22 15 16 16 -- 69

LEETON (53) -- James Cavender 15, Dylan Swabby 12, Levi Manley 9, Wyatt Fleming 6, Alex Smith 5, Aaron Norush 3, Trever Elwell 2, Darius Cramer 1. FG 20, FT 4-10, F 22. (3-pointers: Cavender 5, Swabby 4. Fouled out: none.)

ADVANCE (69) -- Dalton Wilson 16, Austin Ladd 15, Brian Whitson 13, Armani Vermillion 11, Preston Wuebker 6, Dawson Mayo 3, Grant Woodfin 2, Luke Shelby 2. FG 23, FT 19-27, F 10. (3-pointers: Wuebker 2, Whitson 2. Fouled out: none.)