Salisbury's 3-point barrage surprises Oran at final four

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Oran boys basketball team made what turned out to be its only run at Salisbury in the second quarter of Thursday's Class 2 semifinal at Mizzou Arena.

The Eagles pulled with two points twice, but the Panthers had a reply each time. The second time Oran pulled within a bucket, Salisbury reeled off the next six points to lead by eight entering their final possession of the half.

Oran played defense for almost 30 seconds before Kody Moore jumped into a passing lane and tipped the ball into the air.

It just so happened he redirected the ball to Salisbury's Austin Wyatt, who ht a 3-pointer to give his team an 11-point halftime cushion.

"Like I said, it seemed everything was bouncing their way," Oran coach Joe Shoemaker said." We make a run there at the end of the first half. We get a deflection and it bounces off one of their kids into the shooter's hand, and he stroked a 3 there at halftime. Little things like that are big in the game when it's a 10, 11-point game."

Salisbury coach Kenny Wyatt also brought up the play without prompting in his post-game news conference.

"I thought the play at the end of the second quarter was big because it really wasn't a very good pass," Kenny Wyatt said. "We throw a skip pass to Austin for a 3, which is what we like to do a lot of times for a last-second shot when we're against a zone. They got a hand on it, but it ended up ricocheting right to him, and he hit a 3."

That painful 3-pointer was part of a first-half trend for the Panthers, who made five of their seven 3-point attempts in the opening half after entering the game shooting 24 percent from beyond the arc as a team.

Oran was prepared for Salisbury's impressive inside presences but surprised by the 3-point barrage.

"It's tough to beat a team when they're shooting that well and they're that big," Shoemaker said. "They shut down so much in the lane for you, you're going to have to shoot the ball well."

Oran senior Kody Moore said he was happy to see the Panthers taking outside shots -- at first.

"In the beginning we were, until they were all falling," Moore said. "We talked about it. Our game plan was really stay in the middle, pack it in the lane, make sure they don't get inside because obviously they were way bigger than us, but man, they fired from outside. It seemed like everything was going in. Hats off to them. If they can do that, they deserve to win."

It was Moore who kept the Eagles in the game while his teammates struggled early. He scored 14 points in the first half and made three of his six 3-point tries.

"It's always better whenever you get a few buckets right off the bat, but I mean they started off even hotter, so I think that rattled us a little bit," Moore said.

"Some things wasn't going well, and he was shooting lights out in the beginning," Shoemaker said of Moore. "That definitely helped us keep our composure and keep it within striking distance for a long time."

Oran finished 6 of 16 (37.5 percent) from 3-point range in the game while Salisbury finished 6 of 11 (54.5 percent).

"We got out and guarded a little bit more," Moore said of his team's adjustments. "We didn't protect the lane as much, and then they got in the lane, so we'd pack it down and they'd hit another 3 outside. They're a great team. It's hard to guard them."