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Bernie set to make 5th trip to final, seeking 1st win; top-ranked Norwood holds off pesky Bishop LeBlond

Bernie has made five trips to the state tournament and advanced to the title game each time.
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By Cody Thorn 

SPRINGFIELD — Every time Bernie has qualified for the Show-Me Showdown, the Mules find a way of reaching the state championship game.

Now, they will look to have a better ending. 

This year continued that streak, five trips to state and five trips to the finals after a 79-75 win over No. 4-ranked Putnam County on Friday night at JQH Arena.

The No. 7-ranked Mules reached the finals in 1963, 1989, 2010 and 2011 but each time took second place.

To set up a chance to win No. 1, the Mules outscored the Midgets by four over the final 2 ½ minutes of play in the Class 2 semifinal game.

A 3-pointer by Owen Ream allowed the Midgets (24-3) to forge a tie at 71 with 2 minutes, 13 seconds to play. Nearly a minute went off the clock before Tristan Johnson drew a foul and knocked down two free throws with 1:21 left. He would go to the line four more times over the final minute, hitting three of them.

The junior guard went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line, part of a 32-point effort in the victory.

“Tristan really stepped up and knocked them down, that was big,” Bernie coach Jason Long said.

In the field, Johnson 11 of 18 shots and tallying 21 of his points in the second half.

Putnam County led at halftime, 37-34, and then took a 57-56 advantage into the final eight minutes. In the fourth, Johnson twice hit buckets that gave the Mules (29-1) the lead.

“We haven’t played anyone with that kind of quickness and that can pull up and hit a jump shot,” Midgets coach Kyle Fleshman said. “We play a lot of quick guard and they get to the rim but our size messes them up inside. But he had a mid-range jumper that was lethal. I felt like he never missed and free throws down the stretch, he was putting on a free-throw shooting clinic down the stretch and that helped him in scoring.”

Johnson, a 5-foot-9 junior guard, added five assists, six steals and seven rebounds, playing the entire game. Senior Noah Foster joined Johnson in double figures by adding 10.

The Midgets had four players in double figures in a balanced attack. Lance Fowler had 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

Ream hit five 3-pointers and accounted for 17, while Zachary Heidenwith and Landon Wood each had 13.

Putnam County, which is in Unionville, was in the final four for the first time in school history.

The victory was the 20th in a row for Bernie since a loss to Portageville on Dec. 30.

Norwood 59, Bishop LeBlond 55

The No. 1-ranked Pirates took a 45-35 lead into the fourth quarter but then found themselves down in the closing minute.

The combination of Jake Korell and Chris Guldan helped the Golden Eagles go on 12-0 run in the middle portion of the fourth and take a lead, 51-47.

Guldan’s layup, set up on a steal by Korell, with 3:10 gave the St. Joseph school its first lead of the game. His next basket gave LeBlond a 53-49 lead with 2:36 left but the Eagles didn’t make another basket.

Norwood (30-1) tied the game on a pair of free throws by Garrett Davault with 1:51 left and took the lead for good on a layup by Justin Chadwell – on a pass from Davault – with 1:18 remaining.

LeBlond got a free throw from Guldan with 1:05 to play but Davault hit 3 of 4 free throws to seal the win – the 20th in a row – to send Norwood to the state championship for the first time in school history.

Last year was the first trip to the Show-Me Showdown for Norwood, which finished third.

Davault scored 39 points, the most of any boys or girls player through two days of game in Springfield. He was 12 for 14 from the field and hit 15 of 19 free throws.

Guldan had 16 points for LeBlond, a state qualifier for the first time since 2002.