Gray heats up as Advance turns back Oran 84-72

ORAN, Mo. -- It was all in the flick of the wrist.

Grant Gray went from lukewarm to hot in the fourth quarter to keep Advance on top and claim an 84-72 victory Tuesday night at Oran.

Gray was 3 of 10 from the field in the first half and 2 of 5 from beyond the arc. The senior guard rattled off the Hornets' first 11 points in the fourth quarter, including 3 of 3 on 3-pointers to help preserve a lead.

"It was something with my wrist," said Gray, who finished with a team-high 20 points. "Actually this guy that came and watched me told me what I was doing wrong. I was flicking my wrist before I was letting the ball go and it was messing it all up, but I tried and fixed that. I just felt like I needed to shoot the ball, so I came out and shot it and felt like I needed to hit my shots."

The Hornets (16-6) needed them.

Advance took a 62-49 lead into the fourth quarter and weathered the Eagles' hot shooting, thanks in large part to Gray.

"He actually did the same thing against Bloomfield," Advance coach Andrew Halford said. "At the end of the game it seems like we shoot more than the rest of the game combined. It's like they just get excited because they're up and they just start going, and then we get in a groove and start hitting shots."

The Hornets took a 19-18 lead into the second quarter despite shooting just 3 of 13 from 2-point territory in the first eight minutes.

Oran's Jon Morrow and Reece Mangels made their inside presence felt early. The duo combined for 24 points in the first half on 11 of 20 shooting.

"Just about everybody we play is bigger than us," Halford said. "We got to make a constant effort of blocking them out and rebounding -- well, we weren't doing that."

Mangels was fouled on a basket as the Eagles went up 28-25 with a little more than four minutes left in the second quarter.

The Hornets then took over with an 11-0 run.

Darren VanGennip hit a 3-pointer to tie the game after Mangels missed his free throw. Gray then made a steal and converted a layup to give Advance a 30-28 lead.

VanGennip, who fnished with 13 points, then buried a jumper, and Hunter Wilson added two quick baskets to complete the run that staked Advance to a 36-28 lead.

The Hornets took their largest lead of the game at 70-55 with 3:39 left in the third quarter when Ethan Barr scored a layup. The Eagles never got within 10 points again.

Morrow finished with 20 points.

Advance finished with six players in double figures.

"That's good teamwork," Gray said. "Nobody wants to be selfish and we passed the ball the off. We don't care who scores as long as we win."

Advance 19 21 22 22 -- 84

Oran 18 16 15 23 -- 72

ADVANCE (84) -- Grant Gray 20, John Middleton 10, Darren VanGennip 13, Dylan Dunivan 11, Hunter Wilson 11, Jacob Spears 5, Ryan Moses 1, Ethan Barr 12, Tyler Middleton 1. FG 29, FT 17-27, F 19. (3-pointers: Gray 5, VanGennip, Wilson 3. Fouled out: none.)

ORAN (72) -- Seth Ressel 5, Nathan Michelsen 8, Preston Scherer 11, Kody Moore 11, Zac Chasteen 2, Reece Mangels 15, Jon Morrow 20. FG 27, FT 12-17, F 22. (3-pointers: Scherer 3, Moore 3. Fouled out: Mangels.)