Oran boys basketball team falls to Salisbury in Class 2 semis

COLUMIBA, Mo. -- Salisbury boys basketball coach Kenny Wyatt deflected strategy talk after his team's Class 2 semifinal win Thursday night.

"It's nothing to do with coaching. All you've got to do is look out there and tell. Our smallest guy's 6-2, and they're athletic. We've got a lot of arms and legs out there in the way.

"I thought Oran did a really good job because we didn't turn Oran over as much as really what we do most teams. I thought they handled our size. Teams, the first time they see us all year, really have had trouble with that. We just got the key steal at the right time every once and a while."

His team actually had 12 steals in the game and forced 21 Oran turnovers during a 81-65 victory at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

While Wyatt seemed genuine in his insistence that the Eagles handled his team's defense better than most, Oran coach Joe Shoemaker said turnovers and Salisbury's second-chance points were nonetheless the difference.

Oran actually out-rebounded the much-bigger Salisbury team -- which started players 6-5, 6-5, 6-4, 6-3 and 6-2 -- in the game 31-28, but it was what the Panthers did with their rebounds that helped make the difference.

"They got a lot of second-chance points off theirs," Shoemaker said. "Their rebounds came for quick baskets underneath."

Oran had 14 offensive rebounds while Salisbury had 12, but Oran scored just 11 second-chance points to Salisbury's 17. The Panthers also scored 26 points off Oran's turnovers while the Eagle's had just 11 on 10 Salisbury miscues.

"It was definitely tough," said Oran's 6-4 senior Alex Heuring, who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. "I mean, they had multiple guys 6-5 with length and any time you catch it low they just low they just surround you, which makes it tough to make a move, so you've just got to kick it out. It was definitely tough."

Salisbury, which finished second in Class 2 a season ago, opened up a nine-point lead after the first quarter with the help of eight points off turnovers.

"I think part of it, honestly, was a little bit of nerves," Shoemaker said. "That's something you can't prepare for. Also, like I said, their length is hard to simulate. They're a very long basketball team with their height and long arms. They did a good job of disrupting us and what we wanted to do."

Oran opened the second quarter on a 14-7 run, and pulled within two points with 2 minutes, 48 seconds left in the second quarter.

I thought defensively we were a step slow than what we normally are, but I thought part of that was Oran," Wyatt said. "We knew they were really good dribble penetrators, and they got us out of position, especially when we were in our half-court trap.

"In fact, we had to go out of it most of the second half and just went to our regular 3-2 [zone], so you've got to give them a lot of credit. I thought they got a lot of loose balls in the first half and a lot of offensive rebounds, which led to free throws."

Salisbury responded to Oran's basket by scoring 11 of the final 13 points of the half.

"I think one of the things that we did well was we limited them to one shot, and we didn't turn the basketball over. We were fairly aggressive attacking the gaps in the zone at that point in time. And like I said, when Kody [Moore] got hot, it gave us a little confidence. They started over-playing on him a little bit, which opened stuff up for his teammates."

Moore, a senior, scored 14 points in the first half and finished with 21 points and nine rebounds.

Salisbury (29-1) extended its lead to 14 points by the end of the third quarter did not let Oran close within single digits in the fourth.

"Obviously we came in with the same goal of everybody else to win a state championship when we come up here," Shoemaker said. "We can no longer do that. I'm proud of my team. They played hard until the end, I felt like. And looking at the stat sheet, every quarter minus the first one was a bucket off. I felt the ball rolled their way some, and part of that is because they're well-coached and a very good basketball team. It was their night tonight and not ours."

Oran (27-4) will face Iberia (27-4) at 3:20 p.m. today for third place.

"It's going to be very tough tomorrow coming out and forgetting this, but that's what we've got to do," said Moore, who has been on Oran baseball teams that have finished third at state the past two seasons. "I have confidence in my team that that's what we're going to do. We're going to shake it off, and we're going to come out ready to play tomorrow and get a win."

Salisbury 24 16 19 22 -- 81

Oran 15 14 16 20 -- 65

SALISBURY (81) -- Zach Wyatt 20, Austin Francis 23, Austin Wyatt 21, Brady Francis 7, Keegan Wyatt 10. FG 30, FT 15-23, F 12. (3-pointers: Z. Wyatt 3, A. Wyatt 3. Fould out: none)

ORAN (65) -- Kody Moore 21, Seth Ressel 8, Chance Tenkhoff 8, Hunter Schlosser 8, Alex Heuring 15, Jacob Priggel 2, Alex Schlitt 3. FG 23, FT 13-18, F 21. (3-pointers: Moore 4, Tenkhoff 1, Schlitt 1. Fouled out: Ressel, Heuring, Priggel)