Advance boys basketball stings again, upsetting Jackson to move into Christmas Tournament championship

Advance's Armani Vermillion, right, reacts to a basket his teammate Preston Wuebker in overtime against Jackson during a semifinal of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016. Advance won 56-46.

Laura Simon

With less than a minute remaining in the fourth frame, the Advance boys basketball team suddenly found itself trailing to third-seeded Jackson when Payton Salyer hit a 3-pointer. For three and a half quarters, the Hornets had led.

No matter. Advance’s Preston Wuebker took the inbounds pass, pushed the ball down the court and finished through traffic at the rim to knot the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament semifinal at 44-all.

It was like that all night. Whenever the Indians made a push, No. 7 Advance always had a response, especially in overtime, as the Hornets completed the upset and advanced to the final with a 56-46 win over Jackson at the Show Me Center.

Advance will face top-seeded Charleston in the championship at 7:30 p.m. Friday, returning to the title game for the first time since 2000. To get to their sixth final, the Hornets had to upset No. 2 Cape Central and the Indians along the way.

Advance's Dawson Mayo maneuvers around Jackson's Brett Varner in the first quarter of a semifinal during the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016. Advance won 56-46.

Laura Simon

“No one was expecting to get this far, I don’t think,” said Advance senior Dawson Mayo, who had a game-high 21 points. “It ain’t that we want to stop. I mean we’re proud of where we’re at, but we don’t want to stop. We want to keep trying to go on and win the whole thing. But it’s definitely going to be something to remember.”

Following Wuebker’s basket, the Hornets survived a last-second scare, as Salyer missed a jumper at the buzzer. Junior Armani Vermillion had eight of his 15 points in the extra period, and Wuebker and Mayo added two each. Wuebker finished with 10 in the game.

With the game still tied at 44 early in overtime, Vermillion drove into the lane and, surrounded by Jackson players, spun a layup through the hoop. He then stole the inbounds pass and finished at the rim through contact. While Vermillion missed the free throw, those two buckets in a matter of seconds gave Advance (8-1) a 48-44 lead.

Jackson (7-4) never drew closer than four points the rest of the way.

“I knew they were going to try to force a pass maybe, so I tried to think ahead of time before they got the ball in,” Vermillion said. “I read what they was doing, saw that he was going to pass it to him, went and stole it and got a bucket.”

Fittingly, the ball was up in Mayo’s hands when the clock expired, as he grabbed the last of his team-high six rebounds. Vermillion also contributed five boards.

Advance's Preston Wuebker saves a pass next to Jackson's Colten Seyer in the third quarter of a semifinal during the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016. Advance won 56-46.

Laura Simon

“It was a tough, tough, grinding game the whole game,” Advance coach Bubba Wheetley said. “But we had the kids step up. I’m just proud of them.”

From midway through the first quarter, when a Michael Hood basket gave the Hornets a 9-7 lead, up until Salyer’s late 3-pointer, Advance controlled the lead. But it was tight throughout. The largest lead of the night for either team was the final score. And the Hornets never led by more than six in the fourth quarter.

“It took us to overtime, and it took every minute and every player to get it done,” Wheetley said.

Jackson’s loss means that for the first time since 1999, Notre Dame, Cape Central or Jackson won’t be in the final.

Jackson out-rebounded Advance 28-21 thanks to a height advantage. The Indians had three starters 6-foot-4 or taller. Mayo is Advance’s tallest player — at 6-4.

Advance’s press helped neutralize that disadvantage, though, and provided extra possessions. The Indians had 20 turnovers, including 14 in the first half. Wheetley’s team had six.

Those turnovers and Mayo’s inside presence — he had 13 first-half points — allowed Advance to take a 25-18 lead into halftime.

“The second half, especially, even when it was a one-possession game or two-possession game, they were really slowing it down,” Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. “For us, we knew if we extended out too much, Armani would be too hard to keep in front of us.

“I thought Advance played a great game. They came out ready to play. Their pressure bothered us, kept us from executing what we wanted to do in our press offense. I think really the first half was the game.”

Jackson’s Cameron Hester had a double-double with 13 poinst and 11 boards. No other Indian scored more than 8 points.

After losing in the title game last year, Jackson will now try to claim third place at 6 p.m. Friday against Notre Dame.

Meanwhile, Advance will try to knock off another top dog and win its fourth Christmas title, 60 years after its first. The Hornets’ last title came in 2000 when they defeated Jackson. This time, they have to get past Charleston.

“We’re going to enjoy this one, and then we’re going to go back to practice tomorrow and get ready for another tough one,” Wheetley said. “It doesn’t get any easier.”

ADVANCE (56) — Armani Vermillion 15, Preston Wuebker 10, Michael Hood 6, Brendan Crader 2, Carson Miles 2, Dawson Mayo 21. FG 20, FT 16-20, F 8. (3-pointers: None. Fouled out: None.)

JACKSON (46) — Payton Salyer 8, Grayson Ward 7, Colten Seyer 5, Jacob Friess 8, Cameron Hester 13, Seth Beussink 5. FG 17, FT 6-10, F 20. (3-pointers: Salyer 2, Friess 2, Ward, Seyer. Fouled out: Ward.)