The Mules kept their season record spotless Saturday night with a 64-49 victory over Gallatin
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It’s probably safe to say that the Class 2, #1 ranked Lone Jack Mules only know how to play basketball at one speed. Fast. Okay, maybe another one. Faster.
The Mules kept their season record spotless Saturday night with a 64-49 victory over Gallatin in the Class 2 Quarterfinal held at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg. The Mules, 29-0, advance to the state tournament, where they will face Marionville, 25-4, in Thursday’s semifinal round. This is Lone Jack’s first Final Four appearance.
Lone Jack took charge off the opening tip with an aggressive, relentless style that had Gallatin playing catch-up basketball for all four quarters. The Mules jumped out to a 6-0 advantage, but the Bulldogs carved the lead down to 11-7 late in the first quarter after a Duke Burge three- pointer, Jeremiah Gibson runner in the lane and Pat Dickinson turn around from down low. Lone Jack led by 8 points at the end of the period and never fewer than that the rest of the game.
But for missed layups, crip shots, and pesky turnovers, Gallatin might have played to within one possession of the lead in the opening quarter, but mistakes would plague the Dogs throughout the first half. Gallatin committed 19 turnovers in the game, 16 in the first half alone.
Colby Swanstone’s 10-footer at the 5:38 mark of the second quarter cut the lead to 19-11 and represented Gallatin’s first opportunity to score on back-to-back possessions, but the Mules, who pressured the ball after every made basket, took off on an 11-4 run that carried them to a 30-14 halftime lead.
Lost in Lone Jack’s victory celebration was the fact that the Bulldogs outscored the Mules, 35- 34, in the second half. The Mules took their biggest lead, 36-15, three minutes into the third quarter but the Bulldogs made a move. Gibson notched a pair of free throws. Kyle Hefley cashed in a full-court layup off a Burge steal. Burge nailed a trey from the wing. Hefley struck again for a breakaway bucket off a Gibson steal. Pat Dickinson hit one of two free throw tries. With 24 seconds left in the third, Burge got a friendly bounce on a three-pointer and Gallatin trailed by only a 42-28 spread.
However, the Bulldogs would run out of both time and scoring opportunities. Swanstone’s rebound and putback at the 3:55 mark of the fourth quarter turned out to be the game’s final field goal. Gallatin scored on 5 of 10 free throw shooting down the stretch. Lone Jack converted 6 of 8 foul shots in the final 3 minutes.
Gibson led the Dogs with 12 points in his final GHS game. Hefley finished with 11. Burge canned all 9 of his points from the three-point arc. Dickinson chipped in 7 and Swanstone added 6 for Gallatin, which wrapped up its season at 21-8 after making its first state quarterfinal appearance in many years. Bulldog efforts were hampered by the fact that junior Marcus Lacy did not suit up because of ineligibility. He came off the bench last week against West Platte to lead the Bulldogs in scoring.
Kevin Born ripped the net for 27 points to lead the Mules. Trevor Howard finished with 11 and Marc Van Lue added 10 for Lone Jack.