In recent years, the North Callaway boys couldn’t pick up a victory against Boonville.
That actually has been true since 2013, but the Thunderbirds ended that drought with a 61-54 win …
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In recent years, the North Callaway boys couldn’t pick up a victory against Boonville.
That actually has been true since 2013, but the Thunderbirds ended that drought with a 61-54 win against Boonville on Thursday in the Centralia tournament semifinals. North Callaway (4-1) will be playing for a trophy on the final day of the tournament for the first time in three years.
Head coach Matt Miller said his players have improved since they were younger. The current Thunderbirds lost to Boonville (2-3), who mostly has the same roster, each of the past two years in the Centralia tournament.
“We got guys getting better in our program,” Miller said. “It’s the mental toughness and staying together. When things go sideways, it doesn’t matter. We’re still bringing that positive energy.”
After North Callaway fell behind 25-22 at halftime, North Callaway took the lead back for good thanks to the post play by Jamarion Glover. He finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Thunderbirds and scored 13 points in the second half.
Glover regularly showed some prowess near the basket by maneuvering around Boonville’s defense to put the ball in the hoop. Miller likes seeing that often from his junior.
“He’s a dang good player when he is aggressive,” Miller said. “Sometimes, he takes himself out of it without being aggressive. When he is aggressive, his teammates feed off of that, and they start feeding him the ball and it opens up our whole offense.”
Miller reiterated how North Callaway responded well to adversity when Boonville hit some shots early in the third quarter by not panicking and hitting shots at its end. Instead of folding, Miller said the Thunderbirds didn’t.
Jake Blevins scored all 12 of his points for North Callaway in the first half to be the offensive focal point at time of the game. Then, Glover took over along with the help from Austin Brown, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half. Dalton Brewer had three points but led the team with six steals, and Brodee Biggers had all six of his bench points in the second half.
“We talked after the game on Tuesday how we are going to handle adversity after the first loss of the season (to Moberly),” Miller said. “How we respond is indicative of what type of team we are.”
Zaiden Walker led Boonville with 16 points, and Brayden Viertel had nine points. Freshman Bronx Ganaway finished with eight points after leading the Pirates with 20 points in their previous game on Tuesday.
Boonville went 11-for-22 from the free-throw line and converted on 4-for-11 in the fourth quarter.
Miller said it is difficult to win any games in the Centralia tournament so he hopes North Callaway can secure two wins this week when it plays Centralia (3-3) in a rematch from the season-opening 66-62 victory at home.
“A lot of the teams would say the same thing that we could beat anybody in this tournament and we could lose to anybody in this tournament,” Miller said. “We’re excited to play whoever wins that game (Centralia versus Macon) on Saturday.”
