Columbia, Missouri - Iberia scored all 14 of their overtime points from the charity stripe in overtime to secure their 65-58 win over the Bloomfield Wildcats in the MSHSAA Class 2 semifinals at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Missouri on Thursday.
"The funny thing is, if we would have made our free throws in regulation, we wouldn't have needed those 14 free throws," stated Iberia's head basketball coach Steve Scholfield.
The Wildcats were on a 16-game winning streak allowing about 44 points per game on average this season.
“That’s the first time we have given up 60 points in the whole year,” commented Bloomfield head basketball coach Jason Karnes. “Overtime of a semifinal game, well that’s still pretty good.”
The referees gave Bloomfield several fouls allowing Iberia a chance to pull ahead with eight free throws in the first two minutes of the overtime portion of the semifinal game. Tim Hector sank a 3-pointer early, but the Wildcats didn’t score again until the final few seconds.
There were 52 fouls called in the game, 32 against Bloomfield and 20 against Iberia. Iberia went on to sink 14 of 18 from the charity stripe during the extra four minutes sealing their win.
“A lot of ball pressure and they were physical,” said Scholfield of the Bloomfield Wildcats defense. “I think that’s kind of a Southeast Missouri thing, which is fine. They just wouldn’t let us run our stuff and they made us use patience.”
Alex Gibbs put two on the board first for the Wildcats in under one minute of play to start the first quarter. He finished with five points; four rebounds, and was 3 for 8 from the field before fouling out.
Bloomfield remained on top at the end of the first quarter 13-10 and was only down by one at the half. At the end of regulations it was 51-51 and so began the 4 minutes of overtime.
Defensively the Wildcats were able to hold Iberia’s leading scorer, Riley Halley, scoreless in the first half and to only 14 points for the entire game. He had been averaging 23 points per game.
Bloomfield held Iberia’s 6’10” monster, Dexter Frisbie, to 18 points before he fouled out with a little over four minutes of regulation left.
Wildcat senior, Noah Vandiver, recorded a game-high 27 points on three 3-pointers and was four for five at the charity stripe.
Final Score: Bloomfield 58, Iberia 65 in Overtime
Bloomfield 13 10 10 18 7 - 58
Iberia 10 14 14 13 14 - 65
Bloomfield (58) - Tim Hector 6, Nathan Newell 8, Austin Bond 4, Tyler Battles 5, Noah Vandiver 27, Peyton Bell 2, Alex Gibbs 5, FG 24, FT 14/23, F 32 (3-pointers: Tim Hector 1, Noah Vandiver 3. Fouled Out: Tim Hector, Noah Vandiver, Alex Gibbs).
Iberia (65) - Azhary Roark 12, Lane Luttrell 15, Devyn Bloodgood 3, Riley Halley 14, Dexter Frisbie 18, Carter Halley 3. FG 19, FT 31/47, F 20 (3-pointers: Lane Luttrell 4, Fouled Out: Dexter Frisbie).
Rebounds: Bloomfield 28 (Noah Vandiver 9, Nathan Newell 4, Tim Hector 3); Iberia 34 (Riley Halley 16, Zachary Roark 6, Dexter Frisbie 5).
The Wildcats will face Wellington-Napoleon at 4:15 p.m. Friday, March 11th at the Mizzou Arena. Hartville defeated Wellington 63-22 in their semifinal.
Special Note: If Bloomfield wins third place, they match the 1964-65 team. The 1965-66 basketball team took fourth place. It's the senior Wildcat's last game and the entire Stoddard County community is extremely proud of their accomplishments! Leave it all on the court and good luck in your final high school game! #WildcatPride
