The Class Two, District 7 boys semifinal matchup Thursday, Feb. 26 between second-seeded Glasgow and third-seeded Westran certainly lived up to its billing as the contest was nip and tuck all the way into overtime.
The Hornets were victorious at the end as they let a lead get away late in regulation before regrouping during the extra four minutes of action to hold off the Yellowjackets, 69-65. The victory avenged a 12-point loss Westran suffered at home to Glasgow back in December with the Hornets now advancing to Saturday’s 2 p.m. district title game when they’ll tangle with Lewis and Clark Conference rival Salisbury.
This was a contest where neither team could get any separation from the other. The biggest lead either side had all evening was a six point margin. Things were tied 17-17 after one period with Westran leading 31-30 at intermission before Glasgow went back on top, 46-45 heading into the fourth quarter.
Leading by a point with roughly four minutes left in regulation, Glasgow had four straight chances to widen their slim advantage but came up empty every time. Westran took advantage of those missed opportunities to grab the lead in the final two minutes and then eventually lengthen their margin to 57-52 with some 45 seconds to go. At that point the Yellowjackets called on some home floor magic to hit a three-pointer which preceded a Westran free throw making it 58-55 with 10 seconds left. After a time out, Glasgow set up a play for Jackson Meyer who drained his third three-point basket of the contest with this one coming at the buzzer to tie the score at 58.
Going into overtime, the Yellowjackets appeared to have all of the momentum on their side, but that didn’t last very long with the Hornets making the first basket of the extra stanza and then building on that to win, 69-65. Free throw shooting played a big factor in the outcome as Westran connected on 19 of 25 tries at the line with Glasgow going only nine of 14 as they were but three of eight from there during the last half.
Improving to 21-7 on the year, the Hornets were paced by 26 points from Cruze Haynes while Jordan Black added 19 more for the winning side. For the Yellowjackets, the loss ended a seven-game winning streak as their final record ended up at 23-5. Leading the home team was Jackson Meyer, who closed out his Glasgow career with a 27-point performance.
Westran sets up a Saturday afternoon showdown with conference foes Salisbury, as the top-seeded Panthers showed no ill effects of having a first-round bye in their 61-40 dispatching of Marceline. The Panthers surrendered the first basket of the game but never trailed after that. Salisbury led 15-10 after one period prior to extending that margin to 31-19 at intermission. After that, their advantage grew to as much as 23 points before coasting to the final horn.
Winning for the 14th time in their last 15 contests, the Panthers are now 21-5 on the year. Jake Peiffer paced Salisbury with 22 points while Austin Cravens added 13 and Patrick White scored 12. Meanwhile, Marceline wrapped up their winningest season in nine years as their final record was 12-16. Trace Huber had 12 points to lead the Tigers.
The boys district championship game from Glasgow is Saturday at 2 p.m., while the girls contest is Friday at 6 p.m. Fresh off their convincing upset of seventh-ranked Harrisburg, the Yellowjackets prepare to host the Westran. Both games will air on KMMO-FM 102.9 and online at kmmo.com, with pregame starting ten minutes prior to tipoff.