Meadow Heights tops Greenville, advances to tourney championship

No. 2 seed Meadow Heights jumped to early leads of 17-7 and later 34-21 on its way to a 62-58 semifinal win over No. 6 Greenville in the Woodland Invitational Tournament on Dec. 3.

Senior Braeden Hays contributed a team-high 18 points for the Panthers. Senior Damion Hulbert tallied 12 points. Kamden Hays added 15 points while junior Mason Mayfield and senior Maison Mayfield each had six points. Senior Case Seabaugh collected five points.

“Twice, we were up double digits and I felt we were on the verge of really opening it up," said Meadow Heights coach Gary Poyner. "We had a couple of silly mistakes and they were able to cut back into the lead and were able to make it a game right there at the end. That was synapsis on that game.”

Greenville’s Cooper Sturgeon led all scorers with 23 points. He made five field goals and was 13-for-13 at the free throw line. Sturgeon sank at least two free throws in every quarter and added a three-point play at the end of the third, making the free throw after the quarter ended, as Greenville cut the deficit to single digits, 49-42. Greenville trailed 46-34 before closing the third on an 8-3 run to get within striking distance.

A second chance basket by the Bears cut the lead to 51-46 in favor of Meadow Heights with 6:10 remaining, and later it was just 55-54 with 2:22 to go after a pair of free throws from Marler.

Meadow Heights closed the game on a 7-4 run to earn the semifinal win. Hulbert grabbed an offensive rebound and got fouled with 1:03 left, then hit the first of two foul shots (56-54) but a quick rebound by Mayfield and layup made it 58-54 with 60 seconds left. Greenville was forced to foul with 40 seconds left. Meadow Heights was 4-for-8 in the closing seconds from the foul line but after pushing it to a 62-58 advantage the two-possession difference prevented the Bears from pulling off an upset.

Additional Bears’ scorers were sophomore Eli Evans (14 points), senior Jimmy Marler (11 points), Bo Bollinger (five points), Logan Rogers (three points) and Tucker Burchard (two points).

Braeden Hays’ 3-pointer in the opening minute gave Meadow Heights an early 3-0 edge. Greenville didn’t get on the board until a field goal from Bollinger with 6:35 remaining in the first quarter. The Panthers then began a 7-1 run to take a 10-3 lead with 2:22 to go in the first period. Braeden Hays’ turnaround jumper on an in-bound play helped build the advantage. Sturgeon hit a pair of free throws with 1:15 left in the first to cut it to 10-5 but then Meadow Heights closed the quarter on a 7-2 run, its last basket coming on a 3-pointer from Braeden Hays inside of five seconds.

Meadow Heights had appeared in the championship game of the Woodland Invitational nine times, going 2-7, in those opportunities. The titles for the Panthers came in 2021 (60-56 over Woodland) and 2017 (83-79 over Perryville).