Oran boys basketball team wins at Leopold 62-60

LEOPOLD, Mo. -- With only a couple of feet to work with on the end lines and fans jammed along a tight sideline, it's not too hard for visitors to feel claustrophobic in the antiquated but charming Leopold High School gymnasium.

Give the home team a five-point lead in the fourth quarter and the place seems to get smaller with each ticking second.

Oran found itself in that suffocating, anxiety-promoting position Friday night, but the Eagles found the poise to pull off an 11-0 run to turn the tables and escape with a 62-60 victory Friday night.

"The crowd is on top of you," said Oran junior Hunter Schlosser who scored on a conventional three-point play with 4:28 left in the game as part of the run that gave the Eagles the lead for good. "It's a small court. We're used to a bigger court at Oran, and the crowd on top of you cheering, it's a little different. It's hard to get use to.

"I think we lost my freshman year and sophomore year to them by one point, and we finally beat them. It's an accomplishment."

Schlosser, a 6-foot-2 junior, was one of four Eagles to finish in double figures. Senior guard Seth Ressel led the way with 19 points, Schlosser had 14 points, junior Thomas Trankler had 12 and junor Jacob Priggel had 11.

"Our kids did a good job tonight, to keep the nose where it's supposed to be and keep attacking like we wanted to," said Oran coach Joe Shoemaker, who saw his team improve to 16-5. "When it wasn't working early, here lately we've been giving up. Tonight, we just kept doing it and kept doing the right thing, and it worked out for us in the end."

Leopold, which fell to 14-3, had sustained its only two previous losses in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament and were on an eight-game roll.

The Wildcats took a 48-43 lead into the fourth quarter and traded baskets with Oran in the opening minute. Leopold's basket was a bit louder and momentum-grabbing as senior Cameron Davis slammed home his two points on a fastbreak after a missed shot on the other end for a 50-45 lead with 7:09 left to play.

However, the Wildcats went scoreless on their next nine possessions -- which included five of their 27 turnovers on the game -- over the next four-plus minutes.

"They sped us up and we just couldn't handle the pressure," Davis said.

Four different Eagles scored during the spurt, which began when Ressel knifed through traffic in the lane for a basket at the 6:26 mark.

A steal led to a fastbreak layin chance for senior Chance Tenkhoff that was swatted away by Davis, but goaltending was called to close the gap to 50-49.

Two possessions later Schlosser put Oran ahead for good. He passed on a shot around the free-throw line and instead drove to the basket and was fouled.

"I had an open lane and just took it," Schlosser said. "We were running a stall play, and coach said if you've got an open lane take it, and I had an open lane and took it."

It was the type of aggressiveness that Shoemaker has been seeking.

"He was one of the ones I was referring to in trying to do things the right way," Shoemaker said. "At times in the past couple weeks, if it didn't work, he quit doing it. Well tonight, he kept aggressive and kept going and doing what he's supposed to do, and it paid off for him there at the end."

Ressel continued the attack to the basket the next trip down the floor, driving from outside the 3-point arc to the rim.

Ressel then fed Tenkhoff down low for a layin to cap the run with 3:28 left for a 56-50 lead. Tenkhoff scored all four of his points during the spurt.

"Him and Chance are my two seniors, and they made a couple of mistakes, but they were strong right there at the end when we needed them to be," Shoemaker said.

It turned out to be the last field goal of the game for Oran, which hung on despite making just 6 of 11 free throws down the stretch.

The so-so performance at the line made for an interesting finish when Davis connected on a 3-point shot with 4 seconds left to cut the lead to 61-60.

Leopold had eked out a 65-64 win in its previous game against Chaffee on a shot by Davis at the buzzer, and thoughts of another such outcome were still alive when Schlosser left the door open when he made 1 of 2 free throws with 2.6 seconds left.

The Wildcats inbounded the ball under their own basket, but the Eagles were able to trap Davis with the ball at mid-court as time expired.

"We rebounded and cut down on our turnovers in the second half," Shoemaker said. "I think we gave them 20-something extra possessions in the first half on offensive rebounds and turnovers, and that's something we talked about at halftime. I thought if we hit our free throws there at the end -- it shouldn't have even been there. It was, and you take your hats off to them. They're well-coached and kept battling."

The Eagles shot 51.8 percent from the field in the second half after shooting 33.3 percent in the first half.

Oran scored the game's first six points, but Leopold later countered with an 8-0 run and the teams went into the second quarter tied 20-20. The Wildcats opened the second quarter with another 8-0 burst, started by a fastbreak layin by Davis that gave him 10 points on the night and 1,001 points for his career.

"When I heard my mom stand, jump and cheer, that's when I realized I had the 1,000th point," said Davis, who finished with a game-high 22 points.

Leopold led 28-20 with 3:53 left in the half, but the Wildcats committed turnovers on three of their final four possessions of the half and settled for a 30-26 lead at intermission.

"We had so many turnovers that weren't forced," Leopold coach Andy Beck said. "They did force quite a bit, and we knew that would happen, but we did so many just throwing over guys heads with nobody guarding us, and that's what kills you. We had that eight-point lead, and we were just trying to settle down and play, but it just seemed like all of sudden we wanted to turn that into 15, and we didn't settle down like we were supposed to."

Six-foot-six sophomore Zach Beel added 13 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked six shots for the Wildcats, while junior Austin Bucher finished with 11 points.

"Oak Ridge, Chaffee and Oran, we had the lead in all three games and we had chances to extend that lead and put that lead to where it was unreachable, and we didn't do it," said Beck, whose team also hit a shot in the final seconds to beat Oak Ridge. "That's something we've really got to work on and figure out before district time. It's something we struggled with last year, and we're still struggling with. We just have to understand at certain times of the game what we need to do. What's important right this moment and the process, and not worry about getting up 15 or focus on the outcome. You've got to focus on the process."

Oran 62, Leopold 60

Oran 20 6 17 19 -- 62

Leopold 20 10 18 12 -- 60

ORAN (62) -- Thomas Trankler 12, Jacob Priggel 11, Chance Tenkhoff 4, Seth Ressel 19, Garrison Mangels 2, Hunter Schlosser 14. FG 25, FT 7-15, F 12. (3-pointers: Trankler 2, Priggle, Ressel 2. Fouled out: none)

LEOPOLD (60) -- Austin Bucher 11, Dillan Vandeven 8, Zach Elfrink 2, Andrew McWilliams 2, Cameron Davis 22, Zach Beel 13, Wesley Stoverink 2. FG 25, FT 6-11, F 16. (3-pointers: Bucher 2, Davis. Fouled out: none)