Final four notebook: Advance sends seniors out with win, future looks bright

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Much like the rest of his teammates, Advance's Dalton Wilson wanted the chance to play for a state championship.

But in his final season with the Hornets, that goal ended when his team lost in a semifinal.

Despite not being able to finish his career the way he wanted to, Wilson made sure it ended with a victory.

The 6-foot guard scored a game-high 16 points in Advance's 69-53 victory over Leeton in the Class 1 third-place game on Friday at Mizzou Arena.

"It feels great," Dalton Wilson said about finishing his career at Advance with a win. "I'm glad we won for sure, but I really wanted to play on Saturday. It definitely feels a lot better than coming out here and getting fourth."

Wilson is one of two seniors the Hornets' will lose to graduation.

"I'm proud of him," Advance coach Bubba Wheetley said. "He's been through the ups and downs of this program and really helped us all out. I thought Dalton really stepped up in the district tournament and here today as well. I think he was a leader."

Wheetley also praised senior Grant Woodfin, who played five minutes and scored two points.

"I'm proud of these guys here, my two seniors," Wheetley said. "Grant, man, last year and this year played his role. You can't ask for a better kid. He never complained, busted his tail every day in practice and probably worked harder than some of the starters. He just worked his butt off.

"'I'm proud of you, son," Wheetley said to Woodfin. "I'm proud of both of you.'"

No 3s, no problem

Advance has relied on its outside shooting for most of the season, but against Leeton they were just 4 of 16 from 3-point range.

"Usually we make our 3s. When we make our 3s we're winning," Wilson said. "I think we attacked more. I had to attack and Ladd stepping up was what really got us going. Honestly, I didn't even know we were shooting that bad, really because I always expect them to go in. I just think that our defense picked it up again."

Wheetley said Advance wasn't used to the rim but relied on its defense and rebounding to pull out the win.

"These rims are tough out here, I'm telling you," Wheetley said. "All those shots didn't look bad, they just didn't go down. But yeah, really for us to miss that many is kind of unusual. I just think our pressure really hurt them and our rebounding. I know we rely on that 3 a lot, and they made some big ones at times, but we didn't give them a lot of second chances and because of that we didn't always need the big shot to pull this one out."

Looking into the future

Advance's Amani Vermillion drives down the court against Leeton in the second quarter of the Class 1 third-place game Friday, March 13, 2015 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri. (Glenn Landberg)

After its trip to Mizzou Arena, Advance feels its going to be a much more mature team next season.

The Hornets return 10 players from this year's 12-man roster, but Wheetley said his team will have to put in extra work this offseason if they hope to return to the final four for a second straight season.

"I hope these kids understand that it's hard to get here," Wheetely said. "Just because we got here this year they may think, 'Well, we'll get back next year.' Hey, it's not going to happen that easily. We're going to have to get in this summer and we're going to have to work hard. Because I'm telling you, if we don't improve, we won't make it back. But we've got the kids to do it, you bet. If they'll work, yes, I think we'll be back for the next two or three years."

Among those returning is freshman Armani Vermillion, who provided key baskets and minutes in the Hornets' victory over Leeton.

"Love him to death. He's going to be a great player," Wheetley said about Vermillion. "If I can just get him to get his work ethic a little better, get him in that gym to want to work a little harder he's going to be a good player."

Vermillion scored 11 points and added four rebounds and two steals.

"It feels really good to score that many points and help my team out," Armani Vermillion said. "For a freshman I feel good. I came from Delaware, moved down here, made a lot of friends and have really gone far this year."

Junior Austin Ladd scored 15 points and said he wants to take over the leadership role next season.

"That's going to be great because now that we've seen this stage we're all going to be a little more experienced," Ladd said. "It's going to suck missing our two seniors because they help out so much, but every one of us is a little more experienced, we know what's going on a little bit better and I think we can come out next year and really be a good ball club."