Bloomfield, Missouri – Noah Vandiver hit a basket with just seconds left on the clock to propel Bloomfield into overtime and keep the Wildcats’ dream of heading into a District Championship alive for another four minutes.
“We knew he would make a great play,” commented Bloomfield head coach Jason Karnes. “He got the ball there and got us into overtime.”
Bernie had a job to do and it was up to their upperclassman to come through and they did right down to the last seconds of the overtime portion of the game.
“We’ve been kind of after these guys to get it into another gear all year, and especially here late”, stated Bernie head coach Brad Botsch. “I thought I saw a substantial difference in the way Matt and Caleb picked it up and were not going to be denied in the second half. These are great kids, but sometimes they are not the toughest kids. I thought they turned it up to another level, and that’s kind of how we were able to make a run late.”
Bloomfield led 52-51 with just over a minute left in overtime before Caleb Ellenburg hit a 3-pointer putting the Mules back on top 54-52. The Wildcats tied things up at 54-54 when Noah Vandiver hit a shot with 9.9 seconds left.
Caleb Ellenburg was fouled with 4 seconds remaining and made both of his free throws to secure the win for Bernie. Final Score Bernie 55, Bloomfield 54.
“It was a real strategic game all night long,” Botsch said. “It seemed like every possession was absolutely critical because it was so close. Fortunately, Caleb made a solid drive to the basket, got fouled and put it in the hole.”
Nathan Newell pushed the ball the length of the court after the free throw with less than 3 seconds remaining and shot the ball hitting the rim, but the ball did not fall.
Despite the missed shot at the buzzer Nathan Newell has had a tremendous season along with Tyler Battles. Both are juniors and will return to the court next year for the Wildcats.
“Those two probably don’t get the publicity that they deserve,” commented Karnes. “Those two had an outstanding year and a solid game tonight. They had to play up last year as sophomores and it paid off this year. They have been very consistent on both ends of the floor and as our captains they do a great job leading our team. I am so very proud of them. They work very hard for us. Their future is very bright.”
“Our kids’ played really hard,” continued Coach Karnes. “That was just a great game between two teams that play the right way. I am so proud of my kids. They battled until the end. We wish we would have made some better decisions on a couple of things, but that’s the way it goes. Sometimes you catch a break here and there, and sometimes you don’t. But I am extremely proud of my kids!”
Caleb Ellenburg paced Bernie with a game-high 22 points. Fourteen of those points came after the third quarter. Ellenburg also hit one 3-pointer.
“Caleb’s a go-to guy and we have to got have him provide some offense, especially if it’s not falling from other sources,” state Botsch. “Fortunately, the kids were unselfish enough to get him the ball when he got open and he put it in the basket.”
Matt Vernon finished with 19 points for the Mules including two 3-pointers.
Noah Vandiver recorded a team-high 19 points for Bloomfield. Tyler Battles tallied 13 points including one trey. Nathan Newell finished with 8 points including one 3-pointer. Peyton Bell recorded one trey.
“They do a lot of things well,” Botsch said of the Wildcats. “Jason and Tyler do an outstanding job. Beating a good team three times in one year is very difficult to do, especially twice on their home floor so we feel fortunate to survive and advance. But hats off to Bloomfield and how hard their kids work. I told them as we were going through he line after the game ‘they are all sophomores and juniors and are likely to be a real juggernaut next year because of how tough they played this year and the job their coaching staff does’. They have got a lot of good basketball in front of them and we feel fortunate to beat them tonight.”
Bloomfield will return next year with all of their players, as they do not have any seniors currently on the team. They will be a force on the court again next year!
“We are very disappointed tonight and would love to be playing the ball again Friday, but looking ahead if these guys get in there and work like they always have they can accomplish some great things next year,” stated Karnes. “The future is very bright and I hope we take advantage of that next year. They are a special group. We got to 16 wins this year and had a JV that had a really good year. We are going to move up some kids and have good competition within our team to get playing time. It’s going to be a fun summer and hopefully a competitive year.”
Bernie (22-5) will meet defending state champions Scott County Central in the Class 2, District 1 Championship on Friday at 7:15 p.m. in Bloomfield.
“There has only been one year in the past nine years since Jason and I have been together that we haven’t played in the district championship,” Botsch said. “it is always a special time when you get to play for a championship and these kids have won 3 out of 3 this year. To get their fourth is going to take an unbelievable effort against Scott Central because they looked outstanding tonight and our guys are going to have to do a lot of things well to compete and beat them. But we are going to do everything we can to prepare them and we will be ready to go.”
Final Score #2 Bernie 56, #3 Bloomfield 54
Bloomfield 13 14 7 13 7 - 54
Bernie 15 10 7 15 9 - 56
Bloomfield (54) – Peyton Bell 4, Nathan Newell 8, Austin Bon 4, Tyler Battles 13, Noah Vandiver 19, Alex Gibbs 6. FG 19, FT 13/18, F 17. (3-pointers: Bell 1, Newell 1, Battles 1. Fouled Out: Gibbs).
Bernie (56) – Matt Vernon 19, Caleb Ellenburg 22, Brandon Sparks 5, Devin Trammell 4, Gavin Smith 6. FG 20, FT 12/15, F 17. (3-pointers: Vernon 2, Sparks 1, Ellenburg 1. Fouled Out: None).
