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Independence, MO —
Grain Valley coach Andy Herbert had never tried to run an offense against it.
First-year Oak Grove coach Ty Hames had never practiced it, let alone tried to win a game with it.
What is “it?”
With 14 seconds left in a white-knuckle 43-42 Missouri River Valley conference game at Oak Grove, Herbert’s Eagles had the ball and were trying desperately to run some kind of offense.
But that was nearly impossible because Hames’ Panthers had five fouls to give.
With the Panthers working their foul ‘em defense to perfection, Grain Valley was down to one final drive to the basket with just under six seconds left.
The ball was inbounded to guard Aaron Winter, who drove to the basket only to have his layup attempt blocked by 6-foot-6 Jacob Eddy with 3 seconds left in the game.
When the Panthers inbounded the ball and the final tick of the clock ended the game, the Oak Grove gym erupted.
Hames’ never-say-die squad had defeated the Eagles for the first time since 2007 and the celebration was about to begin.
“This is our state championship,” said Eddy, who led his team with 11 points.
But it was his defensive gem at the end of the game that everyone wanted to talk about.
“What a great play by Jacob,” said Panthers scoring leader Eric Gant, who didn’t mind at all that he was held to just six points by the Eagles stingy defense. “This is the biggest win we’ve had since I’ve been here.
“Coach Hames has brought something special to our team. He’s brought ‘it.’ It’s hard to describe, but he has it and now, the team has it. Just look at how happy everyone is. I’ve never seen our gym like this – never!”
Hames’ good buddy and former Raymore-Peculiar High School classmate Ryan Schartz, The Examiner’s reigning two-time football Coach of the Year (who turned around the Fort Osage football program) was on hand for the win and couldn’t wait to congratulate his longtime friend.
“Just look at this gym,” Schartz said, beaming from ear to ear. “I knew Ty would bring a lot of excitement and success to this program, but I didn’t think he’d bring this much excitement. I have goosebumps.”
The moment the game ended, the celebration began.
And it kept getting louder and louder as the 14-6, 5-2 Panthers exited the locker room after a spirited post-game visit.
Grain Valley coach Andy Herbert had never tried to run an offense against it.
First-year Oak Grove coach Ty Hames had never practiced it, let alone tried to win a game with it.
What is “it?”
With 14 seconds left in a white-knuckle 43-42 Missouri River Valley conference game at Oak Grove, Herbert’s Eagles had the ball and were trying desperately to run some kind of offense.
But that was nearly impossible because Hames’ Panthers had five fouls to give.
With the Panthers working their foul ‘em defense to perfection, Grain Valley was down to one final drive to the basket with just under six seconds left.
The ball was inbounded to guard Aaron Winter, who drove to the basket only to have his layup attempt blocked by 6-foot-6 Jacob Eddy with 3 seconds left in the game.
When the Panthers inbounded the ball and the final tick of the clock ended the game, the Oak Grove gym erupted.
Hames’ never-say-die squad had defeated the Eagles for the first time since 2007 and the celebration was about to begin.
“This is our state championship,” said Eddy, who led his team with 11 points.
But it was his defensive gem at the end of the game that everyone wanted to talk about.
“What a great play by Jacob,” said Panthers scoring leader Eric Gant, who didn’t mind at all that he was held to just six points by the Eagles stingy defense. “This is the biggest win we’ve had since I’ve been here.
“Coach Hames has brought something special to our team. He’s brought ‘it.’ It’s hard to describe, but he has it and now, the team has it. Just look at how happy everyone is. I’ve never seen our gym like this – never!”
Hames’ good buddy and former Raymore-Peculiar High School classmate Ryan Schartz, The Examiner’s reigning two-time football Coach of the Year (who turned around the Fort Osage football program) was on hand for the win and couldn’t wait to congratulate his longtime friend.
“Just look at this gym,” Schartz said, beaming from ear to ear. “I knew Ty would bring a lot of excitement and success to this program, but I didn’t think he’d bring this much excitement. I have goosebumps.”
The moment the game ended, the celebration began.
And it kept getting louder and louder as the 14-6, 5-2 Panthers exited the locker room after a spirited post-game visit.
“We knew we had to foul at the end of the game so they couldn’t get into any type of offensive rhythm,” Hames said, “And the kids did a great job. We had to be careful and not foul them when they were shooting or be too aggressive and pick up an intentional foul.
“Andy’s kids work so hard, and he’s such a great coach. We’ve had two tough games with them this season that didn’t go our way. And I know we’re going to see them again (in district play).
“I told the guys to enjoy this one, because we’re going to get back to work tomorrow.”
While the 13-7, 4-2 Eagles couldn’t get into an offensive flow at the end of the game, it was the first 5 minutes that spelled their doom.
Grain Valley didn’t score until the 3:31 mark of the first period.
“Our heads just weren’t into the game at the start,” senior guard Derreon Parker said. “We came out loose, not playing our game. And that hurts; oh, it hurts.”
The Panthers led 26-18 at the half and 36-30 after three quarters.
But a late run, and fourth-quarter offensive drought for the Panthers, saw the Eagles come within a point at 43-42 on a Dillon Helsper 3-pointer with 2:52 left in the game.
“Who’d have thought that with two minutes and 52 seconds left in the game, neither team would score,” Hames said. “Our guys did a great job defensively. We weren’t going to let Parker get the ball at the end, and Jacob makes the big block. It’s so great to look around and see all the kids on the team and our students enjoying this one.”
When asked about the final 14 seconds of the game, Herbert grinned.
“Well, you don’t see something like that very often,” he admitted. “I’ve never seen it in a game I’ve coached. They did a good job, made some smart fouls, kept the ball away from Derreon and they won the game.
“This one should get the kids fired up if we see them again at district.”
Helsper led the Eagles with 14 points, and Parker added 10.
