No. 7 Advance pulls off second major upset of Christmas Tournament, dumps No. 2 Cape Central

ANDREW J. WHITAKER ~ awhitaker@semissourian.com Advance junior Armani Vermillion (1) shoots the ball while Cape Central sophomore Kinyon Hodges (23) guards during day two of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

Andrew J. Whitaker

Bubba Wheetley is not easy to please. Even after an 84-40 win in the opening round of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Monday, the Advance boys basketball coach was perturbed.

But on Tuesday, Wheetley was a very happy camper.

The seventh-seeded Hornets answered their coach’s call and pulled off a major upset as they dumped No. 2 Cape Central 60-45 in a quarterfinal matchup at the Show Me Center, thoroughly out-playing the favored Tigers and advancing to a semifinal for the first time in a long time.

“It’s big for us,” Wheetley said. “It’s been a while since we’ve been this far, and I’m just happy.

“They executed well. The kids came out and made some big shots at times and I’m proud of them. Very proud of them. I thought they stepped up and played very well.”

ANDREW J. WHITAKER ~ awhitaker@semissourian.com Cape Central junior Austin Parker (20) shoots the ball during day two of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

Andrew J. Whitaker

Armani Vermillion led all scorers with 26 points for Advance (7-1), while Preston Wuebker added 13 points and Michael Hood scored 10.

Offense was a struggle all night for Central (4-4), which shot just 38.8 percent (19 of 49) from the floor. Lacking an outside threat and unable to get to the free-throw line — just 5 of 8 in the game — the Tigers flailed when asked to dig themselves out of a second-half hole.

“Transition wasn’t there and we didn’t push,” Central coach Drew Church said. “I don’t know if we were tired or not. We didn’t take good shots — we took questionable shots and we stood around a lot. This isn’t a team at all, with the young kids and some of the other guys, you can’t take bad shots. It was just a bad night.

“I’m disappointed in our bigs. We’re not getting a lot of post play right now, scoring-wise, and that’s got to pick up. That’s partly our guards’ fault, because they’re not looking to them. But I think our movement’s got to be better and we’ve got to stop standing around.”

Jawone Newell paced Central with 11 points, while Blake Harris had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

But the Tigers played right into the Hornets’ hands, as Advance never felt pressure to respect the perimeter and Central was unable to find space inside a sagging defense.

“We knew they weren’t going to shoot outside the perimeter, so we wanted to come out here and stay back,” Vermillion said. “That worked a lot. And we just looked for the best shot on offense. We worked the ball as much as we could and took a good shot.”

Advance was 8 of 16 from 3-point range. Central was 1 of 6.

“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit,” Church said. “No. 1, we got seeded too high and they got seeded too low. We’re not very good right now. They do a lot of things well. They’re well coached, all their kids know their role, [Dawson Mayo] inside is a beast. They’ve got a shooter, a playmaker and a couple of role players, and they do it to a ’T.’ You’ve got to give them all the credit in the world. That’s a hell of a team.”

It was the second big upset of the tournament, and followed a very close call for top-seeded Charleston.

“I thought this tournament was wide open, and I think everyone knew it,” Wheetley said. “And it really is. Anyone in this can win.”

A low-scoring third quarter turned out to be a decisive one. Despite out-scoring Central just 9-4 in the period, a 7-0 swing to end the quarter sent Advance on its way, as it took a 39-28 lead into the final quarter.

The Tigers were unable to cut into a deficit that just kept growing as a good-shooting Hornets side extended the gap in the fourth quarter.

Advance was 7 of 10 from the floor in the final 8 minutes, as Vermillion scored 13 points in the period on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor and a 5-of-5 effort from the free-throw line.

Vermillion finished 9 of 13 in the game.

“He just played,” Wheetley said. “That’s what I try to tell him — ‘Don’t think, just play’ — and he executed well.”

The first quarter was low scoring but high paced, and Central used that to take a lead. The Tigers got a Caleb Oswald basket in transition to go up 11-5 inside the period’s final minute, but Wuebker knocked down a 3 with just 3 seconds left to cut Central’s advantage to 13-9 after 8 minutes.

Then the Hornets found their shot in the second quarter.

Advance took its first lead of the game when Carson Miles drained a corner 3 to put his side up 14-13 at the 6:43 mark.

ANDREW J. WHITAKER ~ awhitaker@semissourian.com Cape Central senior KwayÕchon Chisom (24) and Advance junior Michael Hood (3) fight for the ball during day two of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament between Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

Andrew J. Whitaker

The two teams traded baskets as the quarter progressed, but the Hornets used a 7-0 run to go up 24-20, with Vermillion getting to the rim with 2:15 left.

Then it was long-range shooting that allowed the lower seed to maintain its lead, as Wuebker and Vermillion both hit 3s in the quarter’s final 1 minute, 44 seconds to carry a 30-24 lead into the break.

It wasn’t a large advantage, but the seventh seed seemed to be gathering momentum. Advance held Central to just four points in the third quarter, and when Vermillion dropped the ball in with 3 minutes left in the period it sparked a swing that saw the Hornets take an 11-point advantage by the time the quarter expired.

Advance extended that lead to as many as 18 points with 4:06 left to play, as it celebrated a major upset.

Against a bigger school, a highly-seeded contender and the tournament’s defending champions, the Hornets never blinked.

“I think you always have [intimidation] in mind, but the kids, I just told them to come out, relax, play and have fun,” Wheetley said. “And they did.”

Advance will face third-seeded Jackson at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Indians defeated 11th-seeded Bell City 67-42 on Tuesday.

“It’s fun. I love it,” Vermillion said. “I’m ready for the game tomorrow. We take it game by game and we’ll try to come out and win tomorrow too.”

ADVANCE (60) — Armani Vermillion 26, Preston Wuebker 13, Michael Hood 10, Carson Miles 5, Dawson Mayo 6. FT 20. FT 12-15. F 12. (3-pointers: Wuebker 3, Vermillion 2, Hood 2, Miles. Fouled out: None.)

CAPE CENTRAL (45) —Zyshon Mallory 4, Tyrus Reddin 5, Jawone Newell 11, Caleb Oswald 2, Austin Parker 5, Blake Harris 10, Emmanuel Harris 2, Kinyon Hodges 4, Kway'Chon Chisom 2. FG 19. FT 5-8. F 16. (3-pointers: Reddin, Newell. Fouled out: None.)