Oran boys baskeball team rolls past Advance

~Oran posted a 69-34 win against Advance in a possible future district pairing

ORAN, Mo. -- If it was a boxing match, it would have been a TKO in the first round.

Unfortunately for the Advance Hornets it was a basketball game -- and it lasted four quarters.

Oran delivered a knockout blow in the first quarter and blew past the Hornets 69-34 on Senior Night at Oran.

"You know what, it just kind of snowballed on them," Oran coach Joe Shoemaker said. "They are a good team; they are a lot better than what they showed tonight. We came out with a lot of fire and intensity. They got in foul trouble too, and that made a difference early in the game. They've had a great year. It was just our night tonight. Next time it could be different."

That next time could be soon enough.

The game was a possible preview of the upcoming Class 2 District 3 title bout. The Eagles (22-3) are the No. 1 seed while the Hornets (18-7) are No. 2.

"We have to come in tomorrow ready to work," Advance coach Andrew Halford said. "We have a game against Bloomfield on Thursday, and they are a dangerous team. We just have to come in and get ready to work and get after it."

Advance's lone bright spot came in the form of a 6-5 lead just over two minutes into the game.

The Hornets then missed their next 10 shots and failed to score the remaining 5 1/2 minutes of the quarter while Oran went on an 11-0 run to close the first.

"Everything they did bothered us just because they out-hustled us and out-worked us the entire game," Halford said. "That's all it was, just being ready. We thought we were, but they came out and got us early and finished us out."

The Eagles appeared to be a team on a mission.

Oran continued their impressive run in the second quarter thanks in large part to senior center Alex Heuring.

The Hornets' Ethan Barr scored the first basket of the second before Heuring rattled off eight straight points to start the rout.

"Well, this is my last game as a senior to play in this game, and Advance is a big rivalry," Heuring said. "We just wanted to come out and really just win the ball game. But we have to shake it off now because we have a big district game coming up, and we have to get focused again and come out and play. It's going to be a different game next time."

The Eagles continued to build their lead in the second.

Oran forced seven secondquarter Advance turnovers and converted them into easy transition points at the other end.

The Eagles saw their lead balloon to 32-10 with a little over four minutes left in the second.

"There is weight on your shoulders, because yeah, we have a lead, but they are a good team," Oran senior Kody Moore said. "It just makes that weight lighter and lighter every time you get one of those fast break opportunities. It's so much better than running a half-court offense."

The second half provided little if any relief for the baffled Hornets.

Halford watched his team shoot a dismal 4-for-25 (16 percent) in the second half while the Eagles were 13-for-22 (59 percent).

The two teams traded baskets to start the third before Oran went on a 10-0 run to make it 50-20, and the Eagles finished the Hornets off with a running clock in the fourth.

"We had a chance in the first half and the second half," Halford said. "We had plenty of time in the game to make a little run, but not when we played the way we did."

The Eagles -- ranked No. 7 in Class 2 by MOsports.com -- had nine different players break the scoring column, with Heuring and Seth Ressel pacing the way with 15 points apiece.

"It's very nice in that situation," Shoemaker said of the plethora of scoring options. "It's hard for other teams to key in on one or two people. When you've got six or seven guys scoring, it makes it a lot easier, you've got a lot of weapons out there."

Advance 6 12 10 6 -- 34

Oran 16 22 20 11 -- 69

ADVANCE (34) -- Tyler Middleton 2, Austin Miller 3, Braden Bien 2, Zane Eggimann 3, Eli Seger 2, Lane Below 8, Levi Davis 1, Curtis Gilliland5, Ethan Barr 8. FG 12, FT 8-12, F 22. (3-pointers: Miller, Eggimann. Fouled out: none.)

ORAN (69) -- Kody Moore 11, Seth Ressel 15, Thomas Trankler 4, Jacob Priggel 9, Chance Tenkhoff 10, Hunter Schlosser 2, Alex Schlitt 1, Alex Heuring 15, Cash Kinney 2. FG 26, FT 13-20, F 14. (3-pointers Moore 3, Priggel. Fouled out: none.)