Doublin's lone bucket lifts Meadow Heights

PATTON, Mo. -- Dustin Doublin couldn't have picked a better time for his only basket of the game.

Doublin, a Meadow Heights junior reserve, put back an offensive rebound with 2.4 seconds left as the Panthers knocked off visiting Delta 52-50 on Tuesday night.

"I thought I was going to miss it at first," Doublin said. "It felt pretty good."

Delta, after trailing 46-35 early in the fourth quarter, rallied for a 50-50 tie after a conventional three-point play by junior Chase Crowden with 41 seconds remaining.

Meadow Heights ran down the clock most of the way before junior Adam Walker missed a 3-point attempt from the corner.

Meadow Heights' Trent Kiefer, right, and Delta's Cody Schremp chase a loose ball Tuesday in Patton, Mo. (LAURA SIMON)

Two Delta players could not control the rebound under the basket and the ball bounced right to Doublin, who laid it off the glass.

"There were two [Delta] players on the other side and it just bounced right to me after they tipped it," Doublin said.

After a long pass, Crowden got a decent 3-point look from about 27 feet but the attempt hit a light standard on the ceiling of the gym and never made it to the rim.

Meadow Heights improved to 4-1 while Delta fell to 3-3.

"It was a great game," Meadow Heights coach Tom Brown said. "I give Delta a lot of credit."

Meadow Heights' Calen Buerck, center, drives past Delta teammates Shelby kight, left, and Cody Naramore, right, and a fallen Teddy May for a shot Tuesday night. (LAURA SIMON)

Brown said Doublin's play was a perfect example of what he constantly preaches to his reserves about being ready to contribute. The Panthers had to use their bench quite a bit due to foul trouble.

"I always talk about subs, how important they are, and tonight proved it," Brown said. "The subs won it for us. We talked about it after the game.

"The five starters usually get all the glory, but our bench did a really good job."

Except for the fourth-quarter burst that seemed to put Meadow Heights in control, the game was tight virtually throughout.

The first half featured three ties, six lead changes and no advantage larger than five points. Meadow Heights entered the break up 27-26.

Meadow Heights senior Josh Keller makes a lay up Tuesday night as the Meadow Heights Panthers host the Delta Bobcats. (LAURA SIMON)

Meadow Heights matched its largest lead of five points in the third quarter before entering the fourth quarter ahead 37-33.

The Panthers began the final period with a 9-2 run -- Walker had six of the points -- to open a 46-35 lead less than three minutes in.

But Delta would not go away. A 12-2 run, capped by junior Zach Reigert's follow shot with 1:17 left, cut the deficit to 48-47.

Walker made two free throws with 50 seconds left for a 50-47 lead, followed by Crowden's basket and foul shot that forged a 50-50 tie to set the stage for Doublin's heroics.

"I thought we played a good game," Delta coach Justin Simpher said. "The rebounding miscue hurt us [on Doublin[']s winning basket], but if we take care of things from the stripe, it's a different story."

Meadow Heights senior Dustin Hubler, left, takes a shot at the last second of the first half Tuesday night as the Panthers host the Delta Bobcats. (LAURA SIMON)

Delta hit 23 of 33 free throws -- a respectable 69.7 percent -- but Simpher lamented several key misses in the second half.

The Panthers struggled much more from the charity stripe, making 9 of 21 for 42.9 percent.

"We didn't hit our free throws and we put them on the line too many times," Brown said. "We reached too much. That's been a problem for us. We're giving teams too many free throws."

Walker led the Panthers with 15 points. Senior Dustin Hubler scored 14 points but missed a considerable amount of the contest with foul trouble before finally fouling out late.

Senior Shelby Kight paced the Bobcats with 17 points. Crowden added 14.

Meadow Heights' Calen Buerck, right, takes a shot over Delta's Zach Reigert. (LAURA SIMON)

While disappointed with the loss, Simpher is pleased with the progress Delta continues to make after the Bobcats went 2-20 last year during Simpher's first season.

"They came out this summer and wanted to do a lot better this year," Simpher said. "They've worked hard."

Delta 12 14 7 17 -- 50

M. Heights 16 11 10 15 -- 52

DELTA (50) -- Cody Helderman 3, Zach Reigert 9, Chase Crowden 14, Cody Naramore 3, Cody Schremp 4, Shelby Kight 17. FG 13, FT 23-33, F 19. (3-pointers: Helderman 1. Fouled out: none)

MEADOW HEIGHTS (52) -- Adam Walker 15, Dustin Hubler 14, Daylan Davis 4, Josh Keller 2, Ethan Mayfield 1, Trent Kiefer 2, Calen Buerck 6, Nick Webb 2, Trever Hotop 4, Dustin Doublin 2. FG 21, FT 9-21, F 28. (3-pointers: Walker 1. Fouled out: Hubler, Keller, Hotop)