Garret Reynolds' late free throws, 41 points lead Woodland boys basketball team to district title game

When the ball rolled out of bounds off Woodland senior guard Garret Reynolds' foot with 11.9 seconds remaining and the Cardinals clinging to a one-point lead against Arcadia Valley in a Class 3 District 2 semifinal game on Thursday night, it gave the No. 3 Tigers a chance.

Reynolds and the Cardinals weren't about to let a shot at a district title slip out of their grasps, though.

After Arcadia Valley senior forward Austin Earnest's layup fell off the rim, Woodland senior Landon Johnson secured the ball and was fouled.

He missed both free throws, but Reynolds snagged the rebound, hit two free throws with 3.1 seconds remaining and blocked Arcadia Valley's tying 3-point attempt near half court in the final second to seal a 71-68 victory for the No. 2 Cardinals at Scott City High School

Reynolds immediately rushed to the free-throw line where he'd just sunk two free throws, pumping his fists and kneeling down while his teammates rushed around him.

"The Lord's good," Reynolds said. "He's blessed me with so many great teammates, great family, just a great team this year. It's amazing."

Woodland coach Logan Nutt had faith in his senior leader after he turned the ball over to the Tigers late in the game.

"As far as Garret, our team trusts him and he trusts everybody else to be ready to hit the open shots," Nutt said. "He'll go all out until somebody tells him to stop. His turnover at the end of the game, that stuff just happens sometimes. I believed in him that he would be tough and somehow make something happen."

Reynolds definitely made something happen for the Cardinals. He scored a game-high 41 points on 14-of-22 shooting, was 4 of 7 from behind the arc and 9 of 10 from the free-throw line.

A usual leader for Woodland, Reynolds role was elevated even higher with the loss of 6-foot-6 junior forward Zach Beel, who broke his left wrist and is done for the season.

"My mind has been going a million miles an hour," Nutt said about playing without Beel. "We had practice with him yesterday, and we didn't know until last night that he was going to be out. We got together as a team and discussed the possible defensive and offensive things we'd do and how we need to attack this adversity, and this'll help us in the long run. Those guys did a great job."

The Cardinals led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter but held just a 20-17 advantage heading to the second.

A 3-pointer by senior guard Evan Grindstaff, who finished with 13 points, with 7:16 left in the first half gave Woodland a 23-19 lead, but the Cardinals didn't score for the next four and a half minutes as the Tigers took a six-point lead.

Woodland tied it up twice in the final 2 minutes of the half and trailed 34-31 at the break.

Arcadia Valley extended its lead to 37-31 40 seconds into the second half on a 3-pointer by senior guard Austin Day before the Cardinals rattled off six unanswered with tie it at 37 two minutes later.

Woodland tied it again at 42, 44 and 46. The Cardinals used a 6-0 spurt over the final minute, capped with a pull-up jumper from Reynolds with about two seconds left in the quarter, to take a 52-51 lead into the final eight minutes.

"It's fun. It's fun playing from behind," Reynolds said. "I mean, it's the last game of the season. I'm a senior, last game possible for me in high school. You just give everything you have, and we came back."

The Tigers pounded the ball inside the entire night, and continued to in the fourth. The 6-foot-6 Earnest, who finished with 33 points, had 11 in the final period.

"They realized that we were without one of our 6-6 players who's pretty physical down low, and they fed the post a lot," Reynolds said. "That was one of their big goals it looked like, to get the ball to 51 [Earnest], 52 [Logan Tucker] in the post and let them go to work. They're good. They're good players, and they finish well around the basket, but we ended up coming out on top."

The lead went back and forth in the final quarter. A corner 3 by Grindstaff gave the Cardinals a 65-63 advantage, a lead they'd never relinquish.

A basket by Reynolds with 1:36 left gave Woodland a four-point edge, but Earnest hit 5 of 6 free throws over the next minute to pull Arcadia Valley within a point before the Cardinals held on.

"Our kids did a great job of sticking to what we were working on," Nutt said. "We wanted to limit second-chance opportunities and limit their fast break opportunities. We were behind for quite a bit, and once we saw our lead I think it gave our guys a little bit of extra hope and that's all we needed."

The No. 2 Cardinals will face No. 1 Charleston at 7:30 p.m. tonight for the district title.

The Bluejays defeated Woodland 89-80 in the fifth-place game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

"We played with them the first time. We're going to try to get them this time," Reynolds said. "They're good. Delfincko [Bogan]'s tough, but I think we're going to be up for the challenge."

Woodland 20 11 21 19 -- 71

Arcadia Valley 17 17 17 17 -- 68

WOODLAND (71) -- Garret Reynolds 41, Evan Grindstaff 13, Devon Gramlisch 7, Michael McCormick, Cole Schlief. FG 25, FT 14-24, F 18 (3-pointers: Reynolds 4, Grindstaff 3. Fouled out: none.)

ARCADIA VALLEY (68) -- Austin Earnst 33, Jake Pryor 9, Clayton Jones 9, Logan Tucker 6, Austin Day 5, Jimmy Stricklin 3, Colin Tedford 2, Luke Nash 1. FG 23, FT 18-24, F 20 (3-pointers: Stricklin 1, Jones 1, Day 1, Earnst 1. Fouled out: Day.)