Wuebker's shot sends Advance boys basketball team to final four

VAN BUREN, Mo. -- Last season the Advance boys basketball team experienced one of the worst ways to lose in any sport when Thayer made a buzzer beater 3-pointer in the Class 2 quarterfinals.

The Hornets narrowly avoided a repeat of history against South Iron in Saturday's Class 1 quarterfinals.

With less than a minute to play, South Iron tied the game on a layup by Demetrius Cornell, leaving Advance with the final attempt to win the game.

The Hornets inbounded the ball, dribbled it down the court and passed it around the perimeter, waiting for an open look.

As the clock ticked down under 10 seconds, Preston Wuebker caught a pass from behind the arc. The sophomore faked his shot and eluded his defender before stopping at the top of the key and sinking a jump shot to give the Hornets a lead with 5 seconds on the clock.

The Panthers attempted a last-second heave from midcourt that hit the rim and bounced away, sealing Advance's 47-45 victory and its first final four appearance since 2006.

Advance's Preston Wuebker makes a two point shot to secure the win over South Iron with 5 seconds left in the fourth quarter in the Class 1 quarterfinal Saturday, March 7, 2015 in Van Buren, Missouri. (Glenn Landberg)

"I'm just thinking, 'We just gave up a bucket, we're tied up and we've got to get something good, or we're going into overtime,'" Wuebker said. "We talked about the fact that if we didn't have a shot it was all right. If we do get it, we wanted to take it and hopefully watch it go in. I got the ball, I was going to shoot a 3 but pumped-faked him instead, got around him and shot it. I saw it come off my hands and had no question that it was going in."

Advance will face Meadville, the No. 1 ranked team in Class 1 in a state semifinal at 6:40 p.m. Thursday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri.

After experiencing heartbreak in last year's postseason, second-year Advance coach Bubba Wheetley and the rest of the Hornets held their breath as the Panthers put up a potential game-winner in the waning seconds.

"When he hit it, it just kind of brought back memories of last year," said Wheetley, who was still feeling nervous after Wuebker's basket. "Five-some seconds left last year, and then five again this year. Even when that last shot went off down here, I just thought it was probably going to go in. It just seems like that's the way it's been going for us. But when it didn't, it felt great. I feel great for these kids."

South Iron coach Dusty Dinkins thought about using his final timeout to draw up a play in the final seconds, but in a game where the Panthers had scored most of their points using speed and precision ball handling, he decided against it.

"Typically in those situations right there, we feel we're better off getting the ball on the fly and taking it at the defense without it getting set," Dinkins said. "We have a great ballhandler in Korbin Ruble that can beat two or three guys at a time. And then we've got a slasher in Cornell. We think that we're going to go, give it to him just like he did a possession earlier, and it works out for us. It just worked out the way it did, and you've just got to take chances sometimes."

Advance trailed the majority of the game and did not take its first lead until junior Brian Whitson hit a 3-pointer to give the Hornets a 45-43 lead with 51 seconds left.

"He stayed in after practice yesterday and shot and shot and shot," Wheetley said about Whitson. "He's a shooter. He struggled to knock down shots all game. They looked good, just wouldn't go down. But that's why I keep those kids in there -- him and Wuebker -- because they can shoot. You've just got to have them in there."

Dinkins said the Panthers were looking to run clock and hold the ball until Advance was forced to foul while they still held the lead.

However, a traveling violation on South Iron with 1 minute, 37 seconds remaining gave the Hornets possession.

"Before they hit that 3, we were trying to take care of the basketball and find a great shot so we could keep the ball in our hands and maybe finish the game out at the free-throw line," Dinkins said. "We turned it over there and probably didn't make the best decision, but our guys kept battling. Credit to them because they did have to hit two tough shots to win the game."

Advance's Brian Whitson gets a shot off past South Iron's Austin Grant during the fourth quarter of a Class 1 quarterfinal Saturday, March 7, 2015 in Van Buren, Missouri. (Glenn Landberg)

Whitson was just 3 of 8 from the field before his trey and finished with 10 points.

South Iron jumped out to an early lead and held the Hornets to just two shot attempts and forced four turnovers in the first three minutes of the game.

Dalton Wilson scored the Hornets' first basket of the game at the 5:01 mark. Advance scored seven more points in the final five minutes of the first, but South Iron matched each point and led 18-9 at the end of the first.

"We're young. We don't have many kids that have been in this situation before," Wuebker said. "There are only a couple kids on this team that started last year, so I think we were a little nervous right from the get-go, and that got us a bit behind."

Advance went on a 6-0 run in the first minute of the second quarter to cut the lead to 18-15.

However, the Hornets had no answer for Cornell, the Panthers' 6-foot-6 center, who scored seven points in the second, including a 3 with 2:36 left before halftime. The basket started a 7-2 run to give South Iron a 29-20 lead at the break.

"We were giving him a little bit on the high post and kind of the back door low," Wheetley said about Cornell. "We give up too much down low. He's tough in there, though."

Cornell had 14 points at halftime and finished with a game-high 18 points to lead the Panthers.

Advance sophomore Austin Ladd had seven points at halftime, providing some offense in the post.

"We said on our 3-2 we were wanting to post him [Ladd] and [Dawson] Mayo low," Wheetley said. "We thought we could get something low in there, and we did. It worked out pretty good for us."

At halftime, Wheetley said he told his team to stay just close enough for them to make a comeback late in the game.

"I told them, 'All I want to do is cut into that lead,'" Wheetley said. "I said, 'We'll play them [tough] in the third quarter. Just stay in this game, cut into that lead, and we'll get them in the fourth quarter.' We had the kids come out and play hard. I thought they did well. They never quit, did they?"

Wheetley's advice worked for Advance, which scored the first four points of the third to cut the lead to 29-24 with 4:43 remaining.

South Iron had an answer, scoring the next four baskets to build its lead to nine points with 3:55 to go in the third.

Advance cheerleaders celebrate the final moments of the game against South Iron during a Class 1 quarterfinal Saturday, March 7, 2015 in Van Buren, Missouri. (Glenn Landberg)

Whitson and Wuebker combined to score the final eight points of the third and pull within three points.

Weubker hit two 3-pointers during that stretch, including one at the 1:29 mark that made it 35-32 heading to the fourth.

Advance was in the bonus for the entire fourth and netted six points from the charity stripe.

Whitson made two with 5:29 left to tie the game at 39-39. The two teams stayed within at least two points for the next four minutes until Advance took its only two leads of the game down the stretch.

The Hornets will take little time to celebrate their victory before getting back to practice in preparation for Meadville.

"We'll go back to work tomorrow," Wheetley said. "This was the No. 2 ranked and now we get the No. 1. But hey, that's great and it doesn't matter. We just want to enjoy that trip to Columbia, but I expect to win."

South Iron 18 11 6 10 -- 45

Advance 9 11 12 15 -- 47

SOUTH IRON (45) -- Demetrius Cornell 18, Korbin Ruble 9, Josh Trent 6, Austin Grant 6, Orrin Rigs 4, Garrett Wilfong 2. FG 19, FT 5-6, F 16. (3-pointers: Cornell 1, Ruble 1. Fouled out: none.)

ADVANCE (47) -- Austin Ladd 12, Brian Whitson 10, Dalton Wilson 10, Preston Wuebker 8, Dawson Mayo 7. FG 16, FT 11-16, F 8. (3-pointers: Whitson 2, Wuebker 2. Fouled out: none.)