Osceola holds on to beat Dumas for Class 3A boys basketball state championship
Kyle Sutherland I Photos by Tommy Land
HOT SPRINGS - Osceola overcame a strong run at the beginning of the second half and put together a couple runs of its own to win the Clsss 3A state championship over Dumas 52-43 Saturday at Bank OZK Arena.
“It has been a rough season having to deal with COVID and injuries,” Osceola head coach Vernon Wilson said. “This group of guys next to me, the guys in that locker room, they never gave up even when we got down by five today no one saw us drop our heads, we just kept playing. That is what we teach every day in practice that is how life is. We just have to keep rolling.”
Following a sloppy first half that saw both teams shot very poorly from the field (Osceola 29%, Dumas 13%), Dumas came out firing on all cylinders getting out to a 9-0 run in the first 3:56 of the third quarter.
Senior wing Daylen Love shifted the momentum for the Seminoles with a layup and was also fouled. He was good on the and one making it a five-point game.
Down 26-21 with 3:03 left to go, following Dumas point guard Mike Reddick hitting two free throws to put the Bobcats up 26-21, Terrance Nimmers connected on a long-range shot to make it a two-point game. Love then followed that up with a jumper to tie it at 26 after the Bobcats (28-4) committed one of their three turnovers in the final 2:33.
Osceola (28-4) continued to get things rolling taking a 31-28 lead into the final quarter and the Bobcats never got closer than that to coming back as the Seminoles ended the game on a 26-15 run since the 1:07 mark in the 3rd quarter.
The sting of having to share the 2020 state championship with conference foe Rivercrest was one of the motivating factors particularly with this senior class and made this championship run even more special.
“We know how big this is,” Wilson said. “2020 they said we were a fluke with being co-champs, but these kids right here got us to the dance that year. It was not their fault we could not play; they deserved a championship. Today they showed that they are not a fluke.”
The Reddick brothers, Mike and Tommy, have been the key contributors for the Bobcats this year and faced some early adversity with Mike committing his third personal foul at the 6:14 mark in the second quarter having to sit out for the remainder of the half.
Mike continued to play through the second half, but it was clear the Bobcats’ floor general was not quite himself particularly because he was trying to keep from adding to his foul total.
“I’m going to be honest, Mike was a little worried about getting that fourth foul because he had to sit out a lot in the first half due to foul trouble,” Dumas head coach Larry Harris said. “I certainly do not want to take anything away from Osceola. I think once we came out and got on that 9-0 run they made some adjustments where they tightened up and started leaving two big men in there waiting trying to challenge our shots a little bit more.”
Though the Bobcats only hit 30% of their buckets, Harris was not displeased with the shots taken based on the looks they got.
“We spread Mike and Tommy out and I think they were getting to their spots, I think just some of the shots did not fall that normally fall for them,” Harris said.
Mike Reddick led all scorers in the game with 17 points and teammate Derrick Lee was the second-leading scorer for the Bobcats with 11.
For Osceola, Jerry Long led with 16 points followed by Nimmers with 13. Love also added 10 with 7 rebounds.
