Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament: Woodland edges Advance 56-52

When the realization that they were on the brink of elimination from the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Monday night finally sunk in the sixth-seeded Woodland Cardinals finally started to play to the level they expected it would take to win against the No. 7 Advance Hornets.

The Hornets, which scored 36 points on 3-point shooting, were held to single digits for the first time in the game in the fourth quarter, which is about when Woodland coach Logan Nutt said his team started to play at that level it needed to.

"They talked, they communicated well," Nutt said. "It took us about three quarters of the game for us to start communicating the way we should've, but that was the biggest difference. We hung our hat on defense tonight and our guys were focused and we were able to get stops in the end."

The Cardinals advanced to the fifth-place game with a 56-52 victory at the Show Me Center.

"We feel like we didn't play our best, but that's credit to Advance," Nutt said. "They're well coached, they're confident -- they know they're good. And we won't ever be pleased. We always keep a little pressure on us."

The Hornets led 43-39 heading into the final eight minutes, but the Cardinals scored six unanswered points over the first two minutes, which included a 3-pointer and free throw by Evan Grindstaff, to take a 45-43 lead.

A layup by Dalton Wilson knotted it up for Advance, but Grindstaff connected on another 3 with 4:45 left to put the Cardinals up 48-45, a lead they'd never relinquish.

The Hornets settled for a quick baseline jumper from Wilson on the ensuing possession, which was missed.

Advance's Dawson Mayo goes in for two-points against Woodland's Devon Gramlisch in the second quarter of a consolation championship game, Monday, Dec. 29, 2014, during the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center. Woodland won 56-52. (LAURA SIMON)

"Yeah, it wasn't a good shot. I mean, he rushed it," Wheetley said. "Like I said, we rushed too many shots. I keep trying to tell them, 'Work the ball, work the ball. If we've got to take off six minutes, take it.' Then there's times we got some looks and it worked. But just too many rushed shots."

The Hornets pulled within a point on a Dalton Mayo basket with 3:15 left.

A 3-pointer by Garret Reynolds pushed the Cardinals' lead to 52-47 with 2:17 left.

"There in the last two or three minutes we gave up three 3s, and that just beat us. *... They stepped up and made some big shots, got to give them some credit," Wheetley said.

Advance's Brian Whitson, who finished with 24 points and made 8 of 10 3-point attempts, knocked down his final 3 with 1:34 left to make it 52-50.

"He come out and played really well," Wheetley said while shaking his head and smiling.

Wheetley took his final timeout with 37.9 seconds left following a pair of Wilson free throws that kept the game within two.

Whitson got a steal, but Preston Wuebker's 3-pointer was short with about 10 seconds left.

A pair of free throws by Reynolds sealed the victory for Woodland.

Advance led 17-16 after the first quarter behind five 3s -- four from Whitson and one from Wuebker, who finished with 15 points. The Hornets only had one field goal that wasn't a 3 in the first quarter.

"We couldn't go inside and score," Wheetley said. "If we weren't hitting 3s then we just weren't getting it."

The Cardinals took a 33-27 lead into halftime but were held to just six points in the third quarter to allow Advance to regain the lead.

Reynolds finished with 20 points to pace the Cardinals.

"Offensively we improved probably after about three quarters when it started becoming a little bit more important to us," Nutt said. "We focused and were able to improve. We like to push the ball, and sometimes we don't make the best decisions on whether we should try to go score or start up our offense. We weren't great at it today. Maybe we'll do better tomorrow."

Woodland will face No. 5 Charleston, a district foe, in the fifth-place game at 4:30 p.m. today.

Advance 17 10 16 9 -- 52

Woodland 16 17 6 15 -- 56

ADVANCE (52) -- Preston Wuebker 12, Brian Whitson 24, Alex Morse 2, Dalton Wilson 5, Dawson Mayo 9. FG 17, FT 6-8, F13. (3-pointers: Wuebker 4, Whitson 8. Fouled out: none.)

WOODLAND (56) -- Evan Grindstaff 11, Jake Long 3, Garret Reynolds 20, Cole Schlief 2, Zach Beel 14, Devon Gramlisch 1, Landon Johnson 5. FG 21, FT 8-15, F 12. (3-pointers: Grindstaff 2, Reynolds 2, Beel, Johnson. Fouled out: none.)