C2D3 BKB: Advance regroups late, rallies for OT shocker vs. host 'Cats

BLOOMFIELD – As the fourth quarter got underway in the opening round MSHSAA Class 2 District 3 Tournament game pitting the Advance High School varsity boy’s basketball squad against host Bloomfield on Tuesday, there was probably only one person in the historic Bloomfield Gymnasium that felt the Hornets had a chance at prevailing.

“I told (the players),” first-year Advance coach Dalton Wilson recalled, “that we had been down worse. Ten points is nothing.”

The No. 7-seed Hornets rallied from that 10-point deficit in the final period to ultimately force overtime and upset the No. 2-seed Wildcats 65-63. It was the third consecutive year in which the Hornets ended Bloomfield’s season.

As it had many times this season, Advance (5-20) had played a competitive game, as it battled the favored Wildcats (11-14) to a 27-27 halftime score. However, midway through the third quarter, Bloomfield, which had beaten Wilson’s team by 48 points (77-29) in December, seized the momentum and stretched its margin to 10 points. That forced Wilson to call a timeout with 44 seconds remaining in the quarter, even though he was going to get another opportunity in less than a minute to slow the Purple Wave that was enveloping the home crowd.

“All that we needed to do was get a bucket,” Wilson explained of his message, “get a (defensive) stop, and get another bucket, and we’re right back in the ball game within a minute.”

As the Hornets have labored through this season, there couldn’t have been anyone in the iconic building, other than the young coach, who believed they had an opportunity to execute Wilson’s simplistic strategy. OK, there may have been one.

Legendary Advance coach Bubba Wheetley, who Wilson played for and coached under until this season, sat up in the stands and stoically watched his former program perform well above any expectations.

It took Advance longer than “a minute” to climb back into the game, but it did eventually behind the shooting of senior guard Andrew Henson.

Henson scored 13 of his game-high 23 points in the final 12 minutes, as he sank five 3-pointers in the game.

“They made a ton of shots,” first-year Bloomfield coach Ben Sindle said after sitting in his locker room for nearly an hour following the game. “They made a ton of shots, and we didn’t rotate quickly.”

With 4:27 remaining in the game, the Hornets pulled to within 48-47, which forced Sindle to call a timeout, but it didn’t help, as Advance took its first lead since the second quarter (49-48) moments later.

“You can’t get down,” Wilson said. “You always have to stay positive and engaged in the game. Ten points is nothing in high school basketball.”

The teams battled back and forth before Henson made a steal at mid-court and drove in for a lay-in to tie the game at 55 with less than 3 minutes on the clock. However, after making nearly everything he threw up late in the game, Henson finally missed a lay-in with six seconds remaining in the game, which would have won the contest for the Hornets in regulation.

“He is a great kid,” Wilson said. “He’s a great senior. He’s one of our best ballhandlers and a really, really good shooter when he gets going.

“He’s unselfish, too. He’ll drive and kick. He’s done that all year long.”

Henson got his team on the board moments into the extra session for a 58-55 margin, but Bloomfield senior forward Lucas Dowdy countered with a bucket for a 58-57 score.

Henson connected on yet another 3-pointer with 2:30 left for a 61-57 score, but Wildcat junior Caleb Upchurch scored on one of his many great drives to the rack to pull his team back to within 61-59 following a couple of Hornet miscues.

Dowdy, who was a force on the glass all year, was so on Tuesday, and he scored on an offensive putback to cut his team’s deficit to 62-61. However, Henson stepped to the free throw line, as Bloomfield was forced to foul with time running out and sank both of his attempts.

“There is no one else I would rather have at the line than him,” Wilson said of Henson.

Bloomfield missed a 3-point attempt and Advance sophomore Hunter Rodgers pulled down the board, was fouled, and hit a free throw with 12 seconds left for a 65-61 score.

A last-second Wildcat lay-in resulted in the final margin.

“I thought that we did a good job of pressuring them,” Sindle said, “and turning them over, but at the end of the day, they made a lot of shots, and we didn’t contest them.”

Bloomfield actually had 24 baskets to Advance’s 17 from within the 3-point line, and the Wildcats were really strong at the line (they hit 9 of 11 attempts). However, the Hornets kept themselves alive with eight 3-pointers to Bloomfield’s two.

Rodgers added 12 points in the win while Jameson Hamlin and Braylen Carlton added nine points apiece and Brison Winchester chipped in eight.

Dowdy led Bloomfield with 21 points while Upchurch (19 points) and point guard Mathew Sanders (12 points) also contributed.

Bloomfield ends its season with the most victories since 2017 (15-12).

Advance moves to face No. 3 seed Meadow Heights (13-13), which beat East Carter 54-51 on Tuesday. That semifinal will be on Thursday at 7:15 p.m. at Bloomfield.