PATIENCE PREVAILS: Advance offense earns repeat trip to Elite 8, passes Gideon in final minute 53-45

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - After Brian Buchanan drained a 2-point field goal to put Gideon on top of Advance 45-44 with 1:18 remaining in a Class 1 sectional Advance coach Bubba Wheetley elected to run his motion offense as opposed to burn his final timeout.

"I wanted them to work it until they got a good shot," Wheetley said of how his team approached the most pivotal possession of the playoff at Bloomfield High School Tuesday night.. "We struggled all night getting good shots. They play good defense and made us work. We didn't set nothing up. We just ran our motion offense hoping we would get an open look and we did"

The Hornets ran their motion offense for nearly an entire minute before sophomore Preston Wuebker drained a 3-pointer just to the left to the top of the key to put Advance on top 47-45 with 31 seconds left.

"We were rushing shots and they weren't falling," Wuebker said. "So we figured we needed to work the ball until we got the shot we wanted. The entire game he was giving me a few steps of space. We got the ball into our big man, I spotted up and he got me the ball. He gave me a few steps, I shot it and knocked it down.

After the clutch trey Wheetley burned his final timeout to set his defense. Advance followed with three defensive stops, four made free throws and a layup in the final half-minute to secure a 53-45 victory against the Gideon Bulldogs.

"Every time we have been up like that we've struggled to finish games - we got beat by Bloomfield in the Stoddard County Tournament and Thayer last year at the buzzer," Advance senior Dalton Wilson said of holding Gideon scoreless in the final minute. "We've worked on trying to keep calm and not be so crazy at the end of games."

Gideon missed a 3-pointer on the baseline with about 22 seconds remaining that would have put it back on top 46-45. Wilson made all four free throws he attempted after the miss and Armani Vermillion added a transition layup at the buzzer to set the final score.

Neither team led by much in the playoff.

Advance outscored Gideon 11-3 in the final four minutes of the first period to build a 15-7 lead by the start of the second quarter. Gideon got as close as 17-16 with 3:24 left in the first half but Advance increased its advantage to 23-18 by halftime.

Gideon outscored Advance 16-10 in the third period and led by as many as four twice at 30-26 with 4:35 left in the third period and 32-28 with 2:41 left in the third period.

Advance and Gideon traded the lead 11 times in the fourth quarter with neither team leading by more than two points until a pair of free throws put Advance on top 49-45 with 20 seconds left.

"We'd get up two or three, but we never could bury them," Gideon coach Keenan Buchanan told the Southeast Missourian. "We never could get up five or six. Every time, we'd get up two or three points, they'd come down and hit a big shot. ... That's what hurt. We never could put that nail in the coffin on them. When they get open, they can shoot that ball well."

Wilson recorded a field goal in every quarter on his way to a game-high 19 points for Advance.

"Our senior stepped up," Wheetley said. "Wilson took control by making a few buckets and getting to the free throw line. That's the difference in winning these tough games."

Advance junior guard Brian Whitson made all four free throws he attempted and finished with 11 points.

Wuebker tallied 10 points. Vermillion added eight points and Dawson Mayo recorded five points for Advance

"We need to come out with more intensity next game," Wuebker said. "We need to jump on them like we did against Oran in the district championship. We are a better team when we are ahead and can work the ball."

Kason Lawrence, Glenn Redden, Allen Earnheart and Brian Buchan paced a balanced Gideon offensive with eight points each.

"Their guard made things happen," Wheetley said. "He worked it in and out. They got their looks and some shots went down. Some of those guys don't normally score, but they stepped up and made some big shots."

Gideon finishes its season with a recorded of 20-7.

Advance (17-9) reaches a state quarterfinal for a second consecutive season with the victory. Advance squares off against South Iron (24-3) in a Class 1 quarterfinal Saturday at 1 p.m. at Van Buren High School. South Iron, which is ranked No. 2 in Missouri in the latest state poll provided by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, beat School of the Ozarks 64-38 in its state sectional Tuesday night at Cabool.

"It's good to get a close one like this," Wheetley said. "This is such a good experience for these kids right now. I can just see them growing in front of my eyes every day. And here we are. We've got another shot at it."

Advance 53, Gideon 45

AHS 15 8 10 20 - 53

GHS 7 11 16 11 - 45

ADVANCE (53) - Armani Vermillion 8, Preston Wuebker 10 Brian Whitson 11, Dalton Wilson 19, Dawson Mayo 5. FG 21, FT 11/13, F 10. (3-pointers: Vermillion 1, Wuebker 2, Whitson 1, Mayo 2. Fouled out: none)

GIDEON (45) - Chris Reed 7, Brian Buchanan 8, Caleb Buchanan 3, Dylan Pickard 2, Allen Earnheart 8, Glenn Redden 8, Dalen Hutchison 1, Kason Lawrence 8. FG 19, FT 6/10, F 15. (3-pointers: Reed 1. Fouled out: none)