ST. VINCENT MOVES INTO DISTRICT FINAL

FREDERICKTOWN -- Senior Todd Meyer was a perfect four of four from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to finish with a game-high 18 points as third-seeded St. Vincent upended second-seeded Viburnum in the Class 1A, District 3 semifinals Thursday night at Fredericktown High School.

St. Vincent (19-7) will face top-seeded South Iron (19-4) in tonight's 7:30 final.

Gabe Hotop added 14 points for the Indians and Justin Amschler finished with 13.

Rick Turnbough scored a game-high 29 points for Viburnum (20-5).

Viburnum carried a slim 20-18 lead into the second quarter but saw St. Vincent move ahead 37-30 by halftime and would never trail again. The Indians took a 49-43 lead into the fourth quarter and saw Viburnum knot the score several times.

Viburnum also had a couple of chances to move ahead, including a 30-footer at the buzzer than rattled around the rim before bouncing out.

"Thought that was a big key cause they could never get ahead," said St. Vincent coach Bruce Valleroy. "The kids played hard and did a lot of things well to win the ballgame."

South Iron held off a second-half comeback by Leopold to advance. South Iron took a 29-15 lead into the second half but saw Leopold trim the deficit to 36-31 by the end of the third quarter. South Iron received 12 points from Jared Lane in the fourth quarter as it outscored Leopold 22-10 over the final eight minutes.

Lane finished with a game-high 18 points. Chad Middleton added 14 and John Alcorn had 11.

Danny Nenninger led Leopold with 10 points.