Advance's strategy falters against Bernie

ORAN, Mo. -- Advance tried to slow the pace and run a deliberate offense against top-seeded Bernie.

It worked for the Hornets' first two possessions. But the wheels quickly fell off and the Mules raced to a 74-27 victory in their Class 2 District 3 semifinal Tuesday.

"If you can stay focused, eventually they'll either get a turnover or they'll miss a shot and you'll get the rebound and then we can go," Bernie coach Brad Botsch said. "It's hard for the other team to be so deliberate for the entire game. They may do that early on, but when that pressure starts to get them, they start to lose their head a little bit."

A string of three consecutive turnovers doomed Advance's plan to slow the pace. The Mules scored nine points over a 1 minute, 30 second span to take control.

"We obviously weren't too resilient at that point," Advance coach Josh Dowdy said. "We threw the ball away on a couple inbound passes that really turned the game around. They feed off that momentum and did a good job of it."

Advance committed eight turnovers in the first quarter as the Mules took a 10-point lead into the second quarter.

"I think we just lost our composure," Advance senior Matt Ware said. "We got down a little bit and got in a hole and weren't able to dig ourselves out of it."

The Hornets (16-10) couldn't find any rhythm on offense. They were limited to 10 points or fewer in every quarter.

"They were switching on screens a lot," Ware said. "I guess we didn't really anticipate it."

Advance shot 33 percent (12 of 36) from the field and finished with 18 turnovers.

"We've had a lot of adverse situations this year," Dowdy said. "We've had to play many different players. The kids we brought in there did a great job battling."

Jake Welch almost single-handedly beat the Hornets. He scored 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting. He also dished out eight assists and finished with five steals.

"The scouting on him this year was basically that they don't think he can score, where they back way off of him and guard our two guards who shoot the 3 real well," Botsch said. "He's kind of put to rest some of that of late. He can shoot the jumper. He can get to the basket. If you don't really pay attention, he'll just go right around you and he'll either finish or dump it inside."

The Mules finished the game shooting 57 percent (26 of 46) from the field. They also grabbed 16 offensive rebounds.

"They're a great shooting team and they have a good inside presence," Ware said. "If they get in their groove, they can just bury us."

Bernie, the defending district champion, advanced to face Oak Ridge in Thursday's 7:30 p.m. final. The two teams did not play each other this season.

Advance 8 5 10 4 -- 27

Bernie 18 15 27 14 -- 74

ADVANCE (27) -- Matt Ware 4, Darren VanGennip 8, John Middleton 5, Brad Steil 2, Jacob Spears 4, Ethan Barr 4. FG 12, FT 3-10, F 22. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: Ware, Spears)

BERNIE (74) -- Cameron Shipman 5, Karry Hughes 2, Jake Welch 20, Jake Owens 5, Sammy Walker 7, Jake Smith 14, Jordan McGowan 19, Jeremy Walker 2. FG 26, FT 19-26, F 14. (3-pointers: Shipman 1, Owens 1, McGowen 1. Fouled out: none)