Oran boys basketball team continues to be Advance's district nemesis

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Advance's Lane Below is a junior.

BISMARCK, Mo. -- The Class 2 District 3 championship game Saturday was either a version of a recurring dream or a recurring nightmare for the players and fans of the Oran and Advance boys basketball teams.

Oran thwarted the Hornets in a district final for the third consecutive season with an 81-74 victory at Bismarck High School.

"Really, since we know each other so well the only thing we can do is outplay one another, and that's what we tried to do," Oran senior Alex Heuring said. "We come out and tried to be more intense and match them the whole game."

It was the fourth meeting of the season between the teams. Advance won handily in the season-opening Oran Invitational, but Oran (25-3) won the final three meetings.

Oran’s Kody Moore shoots between Advance’s Lane Below, left, and Trey Wallace during the first quarter of the championship game of the Class 2 District 3 tournament Saturday in Bismarck, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

Saturday's loss reminded Advance coach Andrew Halford of the Hornets' 67-60 loss to the Eagles in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

"It's just a tough loss," Halford said. "We were in the same situation in the Christmas Tournament. We got down early with them and tried to do too much too late."

Advance (21-8) turned the ball over twice and was called for an offensive foul over its first four possessions, prompting Halford to take an early timeout.

Oran eventually built a 9-2 lead and led 17-9 at the end of the first quarter.

"We just tried to stay aggressive offensively and defend and give them one shot and out without fouling," Oran coach Joe Shoemaker said, explaining his team's early-game success. "That was kind of our mind frame from the start. We wanted to attack the rim."

The Eagles were successful in that endeavor, particularly along the baseline.

"That's something we had talked about a little bit," Shoemaker said about using the baseline. "We didn't want to settle for outside shots. If their bigs came out, we wanted to try to attack them on the dribble and get to the rim."

Oran junior Seth Ressel, who finished with 19 points, did that to perfection to put his team up 19-9 to start the second quarter. Then he and teammate Kody Moore went to work outside. Each made two 3-pointers during the remainder of the quarter to extend the lead to 34-23 by halftime.

"They've got some good shooters, and they knocked them down just like -- we've seen it," said Halford while shaking his head.

Moore finished with 22 points, which included six 3-pointers.

"There's been a couple games this year where I've come out and missed the first one or two, and I've kind of been a little more timid and ain't shot as much," Moore said. "I come out and missed my first two today, and I was like, 'There's no way that's stopping me today. There ain't nothing stopping me today.' I hit my third one, and I think I got in a little bit of a rhythm after that."

Oran built it's lead to as big as 16 points with 6 minutes, 58 seconds left in the game, and it needed most of that cushion down the stretch.

The Hornets used a 7-0 run midway through the fourth to shrink the lead to single digits, and Oran missed seven of 14 free throws over the next three minutes to help Advance pull within 74-69.

"It just was gut-check time at the end," Halford said. "You've just got to go and go and go and see if you can put yourself in a good position when it matters. Oran's a good free-throw shooting team, and we knew that. We knew that if we put them on the line there was a high potential that they was going to knock them down, but in that situation you don't really have a choice."

A turnover by Moore gave Advance a chance to reduce the lead again with less than a minute remaining, but a shot by the Hornets' Lane Below didn't fall.

Heuring then hit a pair of free throws on back-to-back possessions to help seal the win.

"I was getting fouled," Heuring said. "I'm not the best free-throw shooter, but I just told myself, 'It's just a free throw. You can do this.' I just took a deep breath and let it fly."

Below, a junior, finished with a game-high 28 points for Advance, while senior Ethan Barr added 18.

Oran will face District 4 winner Elsberry, a third seed which upset top-seed Crossroads College Prep, at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Park Hills High School.

"It's great," Moore said about a third consecutive title. "There's no better way to go out. ... You do got to, I guess, appreciate that we won three straight. It's definitely a great feeling, but we're not done yet. We don't plan on being done in the next week either."

Advance 9 14 15 36 -- 74

Oran 17 17 17 30 -- 81

ADVANCE (74) -- Tyler Middleton 6, Austin Miller 4, Matthew Hood 3, Lane Below 28, Trey Wallace 5, Curtis Gilliland 10, Ethan Barr 18. FG 28, FT 13-19, F 23. (3-pointers: Middleton 2, Hood 1, Below 2. Fouled out: Middleton)

ORAN (81) -- Kody Moore 22, Seth Ressel 19, Chance Tenkhoff 11, Hunter Schlosser 10, Alex Heuring 19. FG 26, FT 21-32, F 13. (3-pointers: Moore 6, Ressel 2. Fouled out: none)