Clarkton, Delta C-7 to face off in C1D1 championship

GIDEON - That ear-splitting explosion heard in Southeast Missouri Wednesday evening wasn't a sonic boom.

It wasn't a tornado or horrible weather.

It was basketball thunder, and it emanated from fans howling at Gideon High School's Field House during the semifinals of the MSHSAA Class 1 District 1 tournament.

Those fans screamed in support of their favorite teams, two of which face off for championship glory Friday night.

And both teams, the Delta C-7 Chargers and the Clarkton Reindeer, sport young guns with hot hands in freshman C.J Wallace for the Chargers and senior Owen Morgan for the Reindeer.

While Morgan reached his 1,000th high school career point earlier this season and since eclipsed that, Wallace clips a 25-point average and 28.9 in conference play.

Wallace could possibly smash the state record for scoring by a freshman Friday, because coach Josh Mathis thinks quietly that Wallace, who dropped 33 points Wednesday, is just 30 points shy of the honor.

To reach the finals Wednesday, Mathis' Delta C-7 Chargers defeated coach Edward Moore's Naylor High School Eagles, 86-47. Coach Cole McBroom's Reindeer took out coach Brandon Blankenship's Risco Tigers in a hard-fought battle of the boards, 59-55.

The Chargers jumped ahead of the Eagles from the tip when Wallace stole a pass and converted to put Delta on the board first.

Delta continued for the next few minutes and held Naylor scoreless until a three-point blast put up three for the Eagles with 5:23 left in the first period and the score 12-0.

The end of the first period found the Chargers in the lead 27-8, and the lead never changed hands as Delta left Naylor in its wake 60-17 at the half.

The Chargers pressed all night according to Mathis' man-to-man, hands-up game plan.

Delta's defense resulted in a night filled with intercepted passes, broken offensive plays, pace changes and three-point conversions from all over the court.

The Eagles trailed by 50 points 81-31 heading into the final period, the Chargers made some personnel changes, and the game ended eight minutes later, 86-47.

"It's been my belief all year long that we'd make the finals," Mathis said. "I started conditioning this team on the baseball field.”

"They were quiet, sullen, during training and I thought, 'Oh, this is high school, pressure for freshmen and who knows what the future holds for upperclassmen,'" he added. "Wallace wouldn't even look at me. I didn't know what to think until the season started. Wallace approached me with his hands in his pockets, looked at me and said 'Coach, I'm dropping 40 (points) tonight.' And he did. He's sparked our team and we have some fine players."

Delta C-7 Charger C. J. Wallace fires off a three-point shot Wednesday at Gideon High School.Steve Hankins, Delta Dunklin Democrat

Wallace's 33 total points Wednesday include 15 from three-point bombs.

Wallace was the game's high scorer for the Chargers while two Eagles, and Preston Johnson and Kollin Thomas additionally each racked up nine points.

The second semifinal contest was far more competitive than Delta C-7’s rout over Naylor, and it found the lead changing countless times during the Risco and Clarkton’s matchup.

Clarkton took the tip-off and scored first by way of a free throw, followed quickly by a Risco three-point shot and goal that pushed the score to 5-1 with about six minutes left in the first period.

Clarkton's Owen Morgan scored and drew a foul off a fast break. Morgan converted two shots from the foul line and brought the score to 5-4.

Then Risco roared back. Clarkton replied by tying the score 9-9 after a Jacob Plunkett three-point blast with 3:01 remaining in the first.

With the score tied 11-11 and 57.8 seconds left, Risco's Layden Kellum sank two from the foul line. The Tigers took the lead 13-11 going into the second period and tucked it away to remain in the lead 28-23 at the half.

Skirmishes raged in the third period, battles waged for the lead and Clarkton pulled out the stops. Sophomore forward James Johnson, who played a substantial game, sank a layup to tie the contest 35-35 with 4:06 remaining in the third.

Risco's Tigers refused to lay down despite a 40-40 tie and took the lead 44-40 going into the final quarter.

Morgan started the fourth with two free-throws that brought the Reindeer to within a goal of the Tigers lead, 44-42.

Clarkton center Clayton Godsey rebounded and put up a goal with 3:45 left in the game to again tie the score, this time 48-48.

A few plays and a few seconds later found Clarkton in front 55-50 with 1:07 left in the game. Risco took the ball and a pass from Jon Smith to C.J. Blankenship which resulted in Blankenship's three-point mortar that brought the Tigers just one goal behind the Reindeer 55-53.

Then, in what might be the tournament's most incredible play of the series, Clarkton with 52 seconds remaining, tossed a full-court hail Mary rocket that was handled at the Risco key by Clarkton's Johnson who sank a two-point layup to extend Clarkton's lead 57-53.

Clarkton followed up by committing a foul that brought Risco's Aaron Denson to the line.

With 42 seconds left, the 5'10" senior guard took aim, sank two buckets for the Tigers, and the team trailed the Reindeer again by just one goal, 57-55.

That didn't frighten Clarkton's Morgan, who drew a foul himself and with scant seconds left to play, stepped to the line to sink two free-throws.

The crowd took to its feet, brought down the house with cheers for both teams, and at the final buzzer Clarkton defeated Risco 59-55 in a teeth-grinding match.

McBroom was ecstatic.

"How did we do that?" he asked. "How did we beat Risco?”

"Coach Blankenship's program is one of the best around," he added. "I have the utmost respect for him. I'm sure he's down. He just racked up his 300th career win. That says a lot about his abilities. He's a great coach and he's helped me a great deal in the past."

That kind of history demands foes play their best game, McBroom noted.

"I thought if we could keep Risco in the 50s, if we didn't let them just take off, we'd have a chance," McBroom noted. "We did that, and I couldn't be more excited for this team."

Both team's star players, C.J. Wallace and Owen Morgan are at the top of their games for this season.

"I thought I played well," Wallace said after his game. "I rested up last night and I'm ready for whatever comes on Friday."

Morgan was a bit more introspective when asked how Clarkton beat a Risco powerhouse. In fact, standing next to his father, he smiled and shook his head when dad reached over to tap his son on the chest.

"Heart," Morgan’s father said. "That's how."

Morgan was the game's top gun for Clarkton with 29 points and two three-point shots.

Jon Smith was Risco's high-scorer with 16 points to his credit and Layden Kellum led his team in three-point shots with two under his belt.

The tournament championship between Clarkton and Delta C-7 is at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24 at the Gideon High School Field House.