ST. PAUL – When it comes to postseason play, there’s a time-worn credo: Survive and
advance.
Thursday evening, the Altoona-Midway boys’ basketball team survived … by the slimmest
of margins. And as a result, the Jets moved one step closer to their goal of claiming AMHS’
first state tournament berth in 32 years.
Trailing most of the contest, Altoona-Midway (15-6) rallied for a nail-biting 45-42 win
against upset-minded St. Paul (3-19) in a Class 1A-Division II sub-state semifinal here
Thursday night.
The Jets advanced to Saturday’s sub-state championship game, where they will square off
against Marmaton Valley (9-11), 64-60 victors over Waverly (7-15) in the other semifinal.
Tipoff for the boys’ championship tilt will be 5 p.m. Saturday, also at St. Paul. The girls’
sub-state final will follow at 6:30. Girl semifinal action is slated Friday with Marais Des
Cygnes Valley (11-9) squaring off against Southern Coffey County (3-15); and St. Paul (8-
12) hosting Waverly (7-14).
“It was far from pretty, but the cardiac kids strike again,” sighed AMHS head coach Dave
Vance. “We had to overcome a lot of adversity in this game, mostly caused by our own
doing. In the end, it was definitely another game that was won by our defense.”
Trailing by three with under two minutes remaining – after a bizarre seven-point possession
by St. Paul – the Jets rallied to score the final six points of the contest and escape the valiant
upset bid by the host Indians.
Sophomore reserve Kage Beck, who played a tremendous second half, scored on a fastbreak
to pull the Jets within one, 42-41, at the 1:24 mark. With the score still the same, Will Stackhouse went to the free throw line with just 13 seconds remaining. Stackhouse uncharacteristically missed both attempts, but senior Jacob Meigs came up big, snaring an offensive rebound and scoring on a putback to give AMHS the lead.
Stackhouse then redeemed himself with a steal on the ensuing inbounds pass, and his layup
provided the final 45-42 margin to move Altoona-Midway into Saturday’s championship
game.
“A win is a win. We will strive to play well on Saturday night in quest of a victory to enable
our team to go to state,” Vance said. “I know we will give a great effort and play together as
family.”
Despite trailing for most of the first three quarters, the Jets fought back to lead 39-35 with
2:10 remaining when the extraordinary seven-point possession occurred. St. Paul center Zackary Kirkpatrick – a thorn in the Jets’ side all night long – started the bizarre turn of events with an old-fashioned “and one” to pull the Indians within 39-38.
AMHS senior Blaine Collins was then hit with a pair of technical fouls, and St. Paul’s Brec
Norris connected on two free throws to give St. Paul a 40-39 lead. Kirkpatrick added
another bucket seconds later to make it 42-39 and set up the wild finish. The game featured an unusual start as well. Altoona-Midway was hit with their first of three technicals on the night for grabbing the rim during warmups. The Jets were out of kilter from the outset, falling behind 7-0 before Meigs hit a corner three to break the ice four and a half minutes into the game.
“We made three critical decisions in which we were wrong, but we managed to bounce back
and play like a team at the end of the game to secure the victory,” Vance noted. St. Paul led 21-18 at the half and still led 29-24 before the Jets’ closed out the third quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 35-31 lead into the final period.
Meigs poured in 19 points for the Jets, while Stackhouse also reached double digits with 10.
Beck finished with eight points, six of them coming in the second half, while Kieran Foster
chipped in six points and Lane Poeverlein added two.
“Jacob provided great senior leadership tonight,” Vance said. “He was a calming influence
and a voice of reason in our team huddles. Jacob also managed five rebounds and three
steals go with his 19 points – and obviously his offensive rebound and put back towards the
end of the game was critical.”
“Will had an off shooting night with only 10 points, but he still led us with nine rebounds,
five assists, six steals, and managed to put in 10 points,” the coach added. “Kage Beck
contributed heavily with eight points, eight rebounds and four steals. It was quite a night for
the sophomore.
“Kieran nailed a couple of three-pointers for six points, and Joey Lamendola played some
great defense on (Norris) in the second half,” he continued. “Lane Poeverlein put in two
points and a rebound while Blaine Collins added three rebounds. And even though Blake
Nalley did not get in the game, he contributes very much to this team every single day. He
is a complete team player.” Norris canned three treys and tallied 19 points for St. Paul, while Kirkpatrick finished with 14.
Altoona-Midway has now won seven games in a row and 10 of their last 12.