Josh Morrow put back a missed Kevin Stander jumper with 1.4 seconds left, and the Republic Tigers beat Bolivar 54-52 to advance to the state semifinals.
On their final possession, the Tigers held the ball for about a minute, letting the clock wind down. Coach Gary Stanfield called time out with about 20 seconds left, and set up a clear-out for Stander to take the final shot. But when Stander drove to the left baseline, he was shoved on his way up and missed the shot. Morrow came seemingly from nowhere to tip the ball in off the glass and give the Tigers the lead.
Bolivar had one more chance, with 1.4 seconds left. But when Bolivar tried a baseball pass to the other end of the court, Republic’s Grant Hancock tipped the ball and it fell in the middle of the court untouched as time expired.
Morrow’s tip-in was the final shot in a classic duel between evenly matched teams. Neither team ever led by more than 5 points. Bolivar grabbed the lead briefly in the 2nd quarter, but trailed most of the way. They tied the game in the final two minutes before Morrow’s put-back gave the Tigers the victory.
The game was largely dominated by two senior guards — Republic’s Kevin Stander and Bolivar’s Preston Guiot. For much of the game, the two leading scorers guarded each other. Guiot — who’s headed to the University of Utah to play basketball — ended the game with 21 points. Stander had 18.
The Tigers hit 6 3-pointers in 11 attempts. They shot 49% from the floor for the game. Bolivar hit just 5 of 19 shots from beyond the 3-point arc, and shot 45% from the floor. In the 2nd half, both teams hit over 50% of their shots.
Nick Yocum had 14 points for the Tigers, including four 3-pointers. Josh Morrow added 11, Jonathan Combs had 7, and Dylan Fletcher and Brody Thompson had two apiece.
For Bolivar, besides Guiot’s 21, Dalton Kelley had 18 points. Payton Cribbs had 7, Michael Holt had 4, and Lance McKinney had 2.
Republic advances to play Kearney (26-3) in the state semifinals in Columbia. Kearney beat Warrensburg in the quarterfinals, 54-33.
The Tigers will play at 8:20 p.m. Friday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.