By Jason Peake
Tanner Rogers made seven 3-pointers on Tuesday night.
All were key, but none was bigger than the last.
A 6-foot-1 senior guard, Rogers hit a go-ahead trey with 18 seconds left, and Webb City came up with a key defensive stop in the final seconds to secure a thrilling 58-57 victory over Rogersville in a Class 4 boys basketball sectional clash at Nixa High School.
Webb City (17-9) meets Helias Catholic (22-6) at 2:45 p.m. Saturday in a quarterfinal contest at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar.
It's Webb City's first quarterfinal berth since 2008.
"The team's excited," Webb City coach Jason Horn said. "A lot of hard work has gone into this moment. We told our kids that when hard work and preparation come together, you get opportunity. And you have to seize the opportunity. Our kids seized the moment. I can't say enough about how tough they played and how well they executed down the stretch."
The Cardinals wouldn't be moving on without the play of Rogers, a varsity veteran who poured in 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including 7-of-8 3-pointers.
"It's a team win," Rogers said. "I knew it could be my last game, so I went out there and gave it my all. God is good."
"Tanner had a great game, and he made a big shot at the end," Horn said.
Yes, he did.
After receiving a pass on the left wing from senior guard Terrell Kabala and with his team trailing by two, Rogers swished the game's biggest shot to give the Cardinals the lead for good.
"Terrell drove and then made a great pass, and fortunately, I made the shot," Rogers said.
The Cardinals came up with a pair of huge defensive stops, the first with 7.5 seconds left. After a timeout, the Wildcats had one last chance with 1.5 seconds remaining, but Josh Linehan's jumper was off the mark just before the buzzer.
"Our guys were smart on defense at the end," Horn said. "We asked our guys to go to a 2-3 zone. They played clean. We got a big stop."
Kabala and junior Nickhai Howard added 12 points apiece for the Cardinals (17-9).
Howard contributed five assists and five rebounds.
"I thought Nickhai Howard was huge for us," Horn said. "He made a lot of winning plays." Gary Clinton contributed six rebounds and four points, while Cohl Vaden added five points. Webb City hit 22-of-43 field goal attempts (51%), including 8-of-13 from long range.
Cade Blevins had 20 points and nine rebounds for Rogersville (20-9), while Linehan added 16 points. The Wildcats shot 45% (18 of 40).
Rogers scored all 14 of his team's first-quarter points, and the game was deadlocked entering the second period.
Three hoops from Howard gave the Cardinals a 30-23 lead, but the Wildcats closed the first half on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 30 at the break.
"We had a slow start, but being in this game a year ago helped us," Horn said. "Tanner kept us in the game. His teammates were unselfish, so they were trying to get it to him."
The game was tied at 43 entering the fourth period. Rogersville's Kanon Gipson connected on two free throws with 46 seconds left to give the Wildcats a twopoint cushion before Rogers buried the game's final field goal.
A year ago, Rogersville handed Webb city a season- ending setback. The Cardinals flipped the script this year.
"I've been here three years and finally got past this game," Rogers said. "It feels great. There was a lot of extra motivation tonight."
Joplin Globe 03/11/2020 (Used by permission)