ADVANCE NAILS DOWN 1A REGIONAL WIN WITH THIRD-QUARTER OUTBURST

SIKESTON -- Naylor got a taste of the Orange Crush Monday night.

Supported by about 600 hundred orange-clad fans, Advance destroyed Naylor 73-57 in a Class 1A regional game at Sikeston Field House Monday night.

With the victory, Advance (26-4) moves on to Wednesday's sectional round at Poplar Bluff High School.

After a competitive first half, Advance -- ranked fourth in 1A -- exploded in the third quarter with a 24-9 advantage.

Advance forward Garrett Broshuis, who ended up with a game-high 27 points, went off in the third quarter, hitting his first four 3-point attempts. His first trey in the second half gave Advance its first double-figure lead of the game, 46-36, at the 6:26 mark.

Broshuis' 12 points during a 1-minute, 40-second span was part of a 16-6 run in which the Hornets put the game away.

"In the first half, I didn't feel like I had my legs," said Broshuis who scored 12 first-half points. "I don't know if it was because the gym was hot or what.

"But in the second half I felt better. Once the first one went (in the third quarter) I just kept letting them go."

Broshuis is making a reputation for putting games away.

"At some spot in the game, he just explodes for three or four threes," said Advance coach Jim Hall. "I think (our poise) is a tribute to our leader. He sets the tempo out there. His emotional stability is level. He doesn't get too up or too down."

Advance went up by 20 points with :41 left in the third on a layup by Jon French. Advance went into the fourth quarter with a 62-40 lead and Naylor (19-8) never posed a serious challenge to making the game close.

"It was embarrassing to lose that way," said Naylor coach Delane Beckwith. "But without (Shane) Tharp, we couldn't keep up with them."

Tharp, Naylor's leading scorer, started but played on a bad ankle injury. Naylor had at least three players with ankle injuries.

Advance looked sharp early, making six of its 10 shots from the field and taking a 17-10 lead into the second quarter. Broshuis had seven points in the first quarter, while Naylor's Steven Thrasher had eight.

The second quarter was pretty much a shootout. At one point in the second quarter, five consecutive 3-pointers were made. Advance made seven of its 16 shots in the second quarter, while the Eagles nailed eight of their 11 shots including all four of their 3-point attempts. Naylor won the quarter 21-20, but Advance took a 38-32 lead into halftime.

"The first half we moved the ball well," said Beckwith. "We hung with them and hit some big threes."

Though Thrasher, a 6-foot-8 center, had 10 points at halftime, he scored just two in the second half.

"We made one significant change at halftime," Hall said. "We double-teamed Thrasher."