Panthers win thriller at Woodland tournament

~ Meadow heights and Perryville won first-round tournament games

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- The line to hug and high-five Ethan Mayfield after he emerged from the locker room was long on Monday night.

The Meadow Heights senior completed a three-point play with 15.6 seconds left to lift his team to a 78-77 win over Zalma in the opening round of the Woodland tournament.

"He was just doing his role," Meadow Heights coach Tom Brown said. "He come off and hit the big shot. He's on cloud nine. Ethan works hard and I love him to death."

Mayfield, who Brown described as "quiet," had a huge smile on his face but little to say about the winning play.

Leopold's Kyle Stroder pulls down a rebound in front of Scott City's Landon Robert during the fourth quarter of their first-round game Monday at the Woodland tournament in Marble Hill, Mo. Leopold won 77-49 to advance to Thursday's semifinal round.

"My team just passed me the ball, and I shot and made it and they fouled me," he said. "That's about really all that happened."

Mayfield admitted he was uneasy heading to the free-throw line after Zalma's Justin Stotts fouled him.

"Shaken. Goosebumps. Couldn't hardly breathe," Mayfield said about his feelings at the line.

The foul was the fifth called on Stotts, who finished with 30 points, meaning the Bulldogs were forced to play their final possession without their leading scorer.

After falling behind 2-1 early, Zalma (2-1) led for the remainder of the first half and took a 37-32 lead into halftime.

"Our key is to hold teams down, and I tell them if we can get teams into the fourth quarter, that's when we'll win," Brown said. "This year -- twice -- we've done it, and I can't say enough about how hard they play."

Meadow Heights defeated Couch at the buzzer Friday after trailing by six points with a minute to play.

Calen Buerck hit five 3-pointers for Meadow Heights (2-0) and finished with 26 points. Adam Walker and Daylan Davis also finished in double digits with 17 and 13 points, respectively.

Zalma got 17 points from senior Stephen Simmers and 11 from junior Gage Lemons.

The Bulldogs, the tournament's No. 4 seed, will face No. 8 seed Woodland in the consolation semifinals at 7:30 p.m. today while fifth-seeded Meadow Heights will play top-seeded Perryville at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Perryville 64, Woodland 32

Perryville breezed past the No. 8 seed and host Woodland in the first round.

Perryville outscored the Cardinals in every quarter on its way to the victory.

Four Pirates finished in double figures, led by Ross Moldenhauer with 16 points. Jared Thieret contributed 12 points while Colby Brown and Bryce Weibrecht added 10 each.

Woodland's Martin Williams led all scorers with 19 points, including five 3-pointers.

PERRYVILLE 64, WOODLAND 31

Woodland 10 8 7 6 -- 31

Perryville 24 11 17 12 -- 64

WOODLAND (31) -- Nick Deck 1, Martin Williams 19, Dylan Miller 2, Neil Johnson 4, Aaron Yount 5. FG 12, FT 1-4, F 12. (3-pointers: Williams 5, Yount 1. Fouled out: none.)

PERRYVILLE (64) -- Jake Dobbelare 2, Alex Robinson 3, Cody Call 9, Colby Brown 10, Jared Hotop 2, Ross Moldenhauer 16, Bryce Weibrecht 10, Jared Thieret 12. FG 29, FT 2-10, F 12. (3-pointers: Robinson 1, Moldenhauer 2, Weibrecht 1. Fouled out: none.)

MEADOW HEIGHTS 78, ZALMA 77

Meadow Hts. 15 17 27 19 -- 78

Zalma 19 18 18 22 -- 77

MEADOW HEIGHTS (78) -- Adam Walker 17, Aaron Mayfield 6, Daylan Davis 13, Ethan Mayfield 5, Trent Kiefer 2, Calen Buerck 26, Tanner Bollman 9. FG 28, FT 13-26, F 22. (3-pointers: Walker 2, A. Mayfield 1, Davis 1, Buerck 5. Fouled out: Bollman.)

ZALMA (77) -- Austin Sitze 12, Stephen Simmers 17, Floris De Jongh 1, Andrew Tucker 6, Gage Lemons 11, Justin Stotts 30. FG 30, FT 19-31, F 19. (3-pointers: Sitze 1, Stotts 1. Fouled out: Stotts.)