Oran boys basketball pulls away in second half, knocks off defending state champion Van-Far to advance to Class 2 state title game

Oran's Langdon Scheeter and Tyson Goodale celebrate Friday's win. Oran beat Van Far 58-40.

Bailey Vassalli ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A nine-point lead had dwindled to one, and the Oran boys basketball team was going through its worst offensive drought of the day.

A lead change seemed inevitable midway through the third quarter, but Oran coach Joe Shoemaker didn’t burn a timeout. He trusted his players.

After all, they had been in pressure situations before, with many winning a state championship in baseball last year, and brought a 21-game winning streak into Friday’s contest.

Jacob Shoemaker dribbles past Van Far's Caden Wilburn. Oran beat Van Far 58-40.

Bailey Vassalli ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

That faith was rewarded as Oran outscored Van-Far by nine points the rest of the quarter and pulled away in the fourth for a 58-40 win over the Indians in a Class 2 semifinal at JQH Arena.

“I’ve got a lot of faith in our guys,” Shoemaker said. “We’ve got some guys that have been in moments before, whether it be state baseball championship, basketball in the past, just big games, and I trust them.

“I talked to my assistants and thought about a timeout. This is a group that I have a lot of confidence in those situations, so I just let them run with it.”

With the win, the Eagles knocked off the defending state champions and will go for their second state championship in three years at 2:40 p.m. Saturday against Greenwood.

Jacob Shoemaker led the way Friday with a game-high 24 points, with 12 coming in the second quarter. His first of four 3-pointers in the quarter gave the Eagles (30-1) an 18-15 lead with 6 minutes, 14 seconds remaining in the period.

Todd Priggel waits to throw the ball back into play. Oran beat Van Far 58-40.

Bailey Vassalli ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

It was their first lead of the game. They wouldn’t trail again.

“We lost [Shoemaker] too many times in the second quarter,” Van-Far coach Pat Connaway said. “It was a backbreaker.”

That Shoemaker 3 was part of a 10-2 Eagles run that spanned the end of the first quarter and start of the second and came with Van-Far senior Caden Wilburn sitting on the bench with two fouls.

“I had to take him out,” Connaway said. “He’s been our best defender for four years.”

At halftime, Oran led 29-22, and Tyson Goodale opened the third quarter with a jumper to give the Eagles a nine-point lead.

Van-Far responded with that 8-0 run to draw within one, holding the Eagles scoreless for more than four minutes.

The player who broke the drought: Jacob Shoemaker. He nailed a jumper with 3:04 left in the quarter, and seconds later 5-foot-8 Cooper Priggel pulled down a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup.

It was the start of an 11-2 run to end the period, giving Oran a 41-32 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

Van-Far didn’t get any closer than seven the rest of the way as the Eagles were patient and looked for high-percentage shots, twice finding Goodale open under the basket in the closing minutes. He finished with 10 points.

“I felt like if we had a lead, it would definitely be in our favor there at the end,” coach Shoemaker said, “because we could kind of dictate tempo and try to shorten the game a little bit.”

Todd Priggel chipped in eight points and a team-high four rebounds for Oran, which despite a significant height disadvantage had three fewer rebounds than Van-Far.

Four of the five Indians who played 25 minutes or more were 6-2 or taller. Oran didn’t play anyone over 6-feet.

“They were big,” Todd Priggel said. “I think we did an all right job getting rebounds.”

Oran’s press and hot shooting — the Eagles were 20 of 33 from the field (60.6 percent) and 6 of 9 on 3s (66.7 percent) — helped neutralize the Indians’ advantage inside.

“That’s something we’ve definitely got to do; we’ve got to hit some shots to try to spread them out a little bit,” coach Shoemaker said. “Hopefully, our quickness can take over. If you don’t hit shots and (they) are able to pack it in with the height, then it makes for a tough game.”

Van-Far was 17 of 40 from the field (42.5 percent), including 2 of 12 on 3s (16.7 percent).

Thanks to that solid defensive effort, the Eagles are back in the state title game. Two years ago, Jacob Shoemaker poured in 33 points as Oran won the state championship.

Now, the Eagles are back in that same spot.

“It feels great,” Jacob Shoemaker said. “Ready to go.”

Geenwood (28-3) presents a challenge unlike anything Oran has seen this season with five-star recruit Aminu Mohammed. The sophomore is averaging more than 30 points per game and scored 35 points in the Blue Jays’ semifinal win Friday.

“You’ve going to have butterflies in your stomach; that’s going to happen,” coach Shoemaker said before Saturday’s opponent was known. “But hopefully, we’re not scared of the moment. They’ve prepared all year.

“They go out and take the shots. If they fall, they fall, that’s with God. If they don’t, they don’t. Don’t be scared of the moment.”

VAN-FAR (40) — Verlyn Johnson 7, Verdell Johnson 7, Caden Wilburn 13, Trey Miller 9, Dillion Minor 2, Colin Wilburn 2. FG 17, FT 4-9, F 17. (3-pointers: Caden Wilburn 2. Fouled out: None.)

ORAN (58) — Ty Johnson 5, Todd PRiggle 8, Tyson Goodale 10, Jacob Shoemaker 24, Langdon Scheeter 7, Cooper Priggel 2, Samuel Shoemaker 2. FG 20, FT 12-17, F 14. (3-pointers: Johnson, Shoemaker 4, Scheeter. Fouled out: None.)