Blue Jays stop Panthers in MVC tourney semifinals

~ Oak Ridge beat Meadow Heights 80-67 to advance to tonight's championship game

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Shooting 67 percent from the free-throw line isn't spectacular, but it sure beats 25 percent.

Oak Ridge converted two-thirds of its free throws while Meadow Heights struggled from the line in the Blue Jays' 80-67 victory in their Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball semifinal Thursday.

Meadow Heights was whistled for 31 fouls, which resulted in 48 free-throw attempts for Oak Ridge. The Blue Jays hit 32 of their attempts.

"We're used to getting most of our points off the free-throw line," said Oak Ridge sophomore Jacob Light, who went 6 of 8 from the line.

The Blue Jays practice free throws under strenuous circumstances. Oak Ridge junior Caleb Elam, who went 10 of 12 on his attempts, said there's plenty of motivation to hit them in practice.

"Basically coach tells us to drive and make sure we have our heads up and make sure we don't run into charges or anything like that," Elam said. "Just keep our heads up and go to the free-throw line. After we get warm-ups in, you have to shoot 20 free throws. If you don't hit 16, you've got to run. That makes us want to make them. We do that all throughout practice."

The Panthers didn't enjoy nearly the success that the Blue Jays did at the charity stripe. Meadow Heights went 0 of 10 from the line in the first half and 4 of 16 for the game.

"We were 0 for 10 and four of those were 1-and-1s," Meadow Heights coach Tom Brown said. "That's the possibility of a 14-point swing right there. You know, we hurt ourselves."

Despite the horrid free-throw shooting, the Panthers quickly erased an eight-point deficit in the third quarter. They went on a 12-2 run to tie the game at 45-45 with 4 minutes, 40 seconds left in the third. But Elam, who scored a game-high 26 points, was there to stop the bleeding. He nailed a 3-pointer to spark a 9-2 run and Meadow Heights (11-6) never got closer than six points.

"We forced three shots in a row," Brown said. "That was the key. It's not about anything else. You cannot go and force three shots."

After Meadow Heights pulled even, Oak Ridge closed the third quarter on a 19-4 run before Meadow Heights senior Nick Webb hit a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left in the third quarter.

"We made bad decisions," Brown said. "They made more good decisions."

Oak Ridge (13-3) did a decent job of handling Meadow Heights' harassing pressure defense. The Blue Jays turned over the ball 25 times, but they also earned many of their trips to the free-throw line by attacking the defense. Three players fouled out for Meadow Heights.

"If you haven't faced it, it's obviously pretty tough," Elam said of the Panthers' defense. "Once you start getting used to it, you see everything basically and slow it down."

The Blue Jays advanced to today's 8:30 p.m. title game against Leopold, while the Panthers will face Zalma at 5:30 p.m. for third place.

Meadow Hts 16 17 19 15 -- 67

Oak Ridge 21 20 23 16 -- 80

MEADOW HEIGHTS (67) -- Dustin Hubler 8, Adam Walker 16, Daylan Davis 4, Nick Webb 19, Calen Buerck 10, Trent Kiefer 8, Dustin Doublin 2. FG 29, FT 4-16, F 31. (3-pointers: Walker 2, Davis 1, Webb 2. Fouled out: Davis, Trever Hotop, Buerck)

OAK RIDGE (80) -- Stephen Bolen 5, Caleb Elam 26, Brett Thomas 15, Garret Light 11, Logan Mangels 5, Jacob Light 16, Lucas Rohde 2. FG 22, FT 32-48, F 16. (3-pointers: Elam 2, Thomas 1, Mangels 1. Fouled out: none)