Bell City has easy time with Santa Fe

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- It's not often a team can end a season on its own terms.

The Bell City Cubs were able to do that Saturday in the Class 1A boys state championship game, from orchestrating individual player exits from the Hearnes Center floor to team leaders Eric Henry and Jason Rampley hoisting a trophy before delirious fans.

Bell City looked like a veteran at the proceedings, but was celebrating the first state basketball championship in school history after an 88-68 victory over Santa Fe.

The Cubs were not only crowned champions, but they did it in dominating fashion. Bell City's 29th victory of the season was never in doubt as the Cubs scored the first nine points of the game and led by 20 at halftime. But the ease of the victory did not diminish the excitement.

"This is the best thing to ever happen in my life," Bell City senior Luke Phillips said. "I never dreamed of this. I mean I dreamed of it, but I never thought it would happen. It's just an unreal feeling."

"It's like a little tingling feeling in your gut," said senior C.J. Hadley, trying to pinpoint his euphoria. "It feels great. It took a lot of hard work, but it paid off."

Hadley finished with a game-high 28 points and was a third of a scoring force that proved too strong for Santa Fe. Junior Eric Henry shook a cold semifinal shooting performance to score 27 points and sophomore point guard Dominitrix Johnson drove his way to 21 more.

As a team, Bell City (29-5) shot 53 percent from the field and finished just a point shy of the 1A championship game scoring record.

"I don't know if there's a team in the state that can slows these guys down," Santa Fe guard Daniel Boland said. "I think they shot 110 percent."

Henry, an all-state guard, struggled through 5 of 23 shooting in Friday's 65-55 semifinal victory over Stewartsville, but connected on 11 of 19 shots in the title game.

He also had one trophy to hoist, which he lifted with Rampley before most of Bell City.

"I just wanted to pass out," Henry said. "I was just too happy. It was like I was in a dream or something."

Henry announced himself early by scoring 17 of his 27 points in the first half.

"We knew we were where we were supposed to be -- in the state championship," Henry said. "I think we were looser than what we were used to."

Santa Fe (23-5) reached the championship game despite being just the second seed in its district.

The Chiefs' bubble began to burst early as Johnson hit a baseline jumper just six seconds into the game to put Bell City ahead for good. A Johnson free throw was then followed by baskets by Rampley, Hadley and Henry, the latter giving Bell City a 9-0 lead with 5:13 left and prompting a timeout by Santa Fe, which missed its first five shots and committed a turnover.

"We knew coming in we had to get off to a fast start and slow their penetration, and needless to say we didn't do either one of them," Santa Fe coach Gary Littrell said. "Bell City is a good ballclub and there's no shame in losing to a ballclub that can run and down the floor like they can, attack the basket and pressure you from endline to endline."

The Cubs then began to rain 3-pointers on the Chiefs, as Henry hit two, and Hadley and Zak McIntyre each sank one as the Cubs opened a 23-10 lead.

Santa Fe countered with its only serious charge, closing with the quarter's final five points, part of a 10-0 run that cut the lead to 23-20 by the 7:11 mark of the second quarter.

Bell City then unleashed its second wave. Starting with a 9-0 spurt, Bell City outscored Santa Fe 24-7 for the remainder of the half.

After burning time for a final shot, Johnson capped the outburst by driving the lane, splitting defenders and kissing a under-handed shot off the glass and into the basket to give the Cubs their biggest lead, a 47-27 halftime advantage.

"We just tried to extend the lead," Johnson said. "It's been our motto all season. Once you get up, you just try to extend it."

Santa Fe got as close as 61-48 in the third period, but Bell City took a 69-52 lead into the fourth quarter, where it went ahead by as many as 24 points down the stretch.

The Cubs' starters -- Henry, Rampley, Hadley, Phillips and Johnson -- began to depart the game one at a time with 2:31 left, with each receiving big hugs from second-year coach David Heeb.

Heeb played high school ball at Scott County Central, which holds the Missouri record for state titles, but never won one at the school.

"For me growing up as a kid, I always wanted to get here and dreamed of getting here and watched other people get to do it, and to get to do it now with such a good group of kids is something else," Heeb said.

Joe Michael led Santa Fe with 18 points, while Austin Rolf scored 14 and Josh Burford had 13.