By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
No. 3 Stanberry raced out to an 8-2 start, never trailed by more than a point and held on late for a massive 49-47 win over No. 2 Mound City in a Class 1 state sectional game at the St. Joseph Civic Arena Tuesday.
The Bulldogs (23-3), who had lost their last seven meetings with the Panthers in boys' basketball including 72-42 in the season opener in November, held perhaps the best player in the state of Missouri, Tony Osburn, to just two first half points and they ended the second quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 29-24 at halftime.
The lead changed hands five times, but Stanberry gained some valuable breathing room when senior Tyler Schwebach made a pair of free throws with less than 30 seconds left to put the Bulldogs up 49-44.
The free throws also put Schewbach up to 1,000 points in his career, as he led his team to victory with 21 on Tuesday.
"Seven years of losing to them," Schwebach said, "and we kind of just took it all out there and laying it all out and we got the win."
Osburn, who finished with 15 points in his final high school game and over 3,000 career points in his illustrious career, hit a quick three with 2.2 to go to make it 49-47, leading to a Panthers timeout and eventually giving Mound City one last possession.
Ultimately, with Stanberry pressing hard and a foul call with just 0.2 left, Mound City (27-2) was unable to get a look at a tying or winning shot, and the Bulldogs finished off a momentous win to continue their quest for their first Final Four appearance since 2016, which is also the last time they won it all.
"We beat one of the best if not the best team in the state tonight," Stanberry head coach Nick Groomer said. "Which matters when you play well. We're going to play even better. Because (Green City) is going to want to beat us. We have to play even better Saturday."
Stanberry, typically known for playing man defense, switched to more of a zone look Tuesday, putting two, sometimes three players on Osburn at all times, and then feeding the ball down low to both Schwebachs on offense.
Combined with three made triples in the first half, Stanberry's game plan worked to perfection.
"I had trouble doing that plan," Groomer said, "because we play man-to-man so much. It worked and it got (Osburn) out of his game and he's a tremendous player. He still scored 15 with two-and-a-half guys guarding him. That tells you how good of a player he is."
Seniors Austin Schwebach and Korbin Fletchall scored 10 points Tuesday. Seniors Brendan Tubbs and Wil Young scored 13 for Mound City in defeat.
Stanberry advances to the state quarterfinals, where they'll face No. 8 Green City (23-6) on Saturday at 7:45 at the MWSU Fieldhouse.
Green City beat Braymer at Civic Tuesday, 73-50.
"If we come out and lose Saturday, then honestly this game is kind of pointless to us," Schwebach said. "That's what we said after the game in the locker room. So, we just have to come out just as fired up for the next game and have a chance at the Final Four which is what we've been wanting."
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