Advance makes state quarterfinals for second consecutive season after 53-45 win over Gideon

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

BLOOMFIELD -- It took one shot for the Advance boys basketball team to seal the deal against Gideon on Tuesday.

Trailing by one point with less than a minute remaining in the game, the Hornets took their time to find that shot.

After moving the ball around the perimeter, Preston Wuebker found some separation and pulled up from the top left of the key.

His shot fell through the net, and Advance secured its victory at the free-throw line, defeating the Bulldogs 53-45 in a Class 1 sectional at Bloomfield High School.

"It felt good," Wuebker said of his 3-pointer, which gave Advance a 47-45 lead with 31 seconds remaining in the game. "Smooth."

The teams exchanged the lead 11 times in the final period, during which Advance shot 6 of 9 (67 percent) from the floor and Gideon was 5 of 10 (50 percent).

Advance coach Bubba Wheetley said his team found offensive success in the fourth quarter by working the ball inside to Dawson Mayo, who was held to only five points.

"We seemed to not go in enough to him because that way they would collapse and kick it out," Wheetley said. "We're going to have to work on that this week."

Brian Buchanan got a bucket in the lane to give the Bulldogs their final lead of the game at the 1:22 mark of the fourth.

Instead of calling a timeout, Wheetley allowed his players to play out the go-ahead possession, and the moved paid dividends.

"I just wanted them to work until they got a good shot because we struggled all night getting a shot," Wheetley said. "They played good defense. They made us work. ... We just ran our motion offense and hoped that we could get an open look, and we did. A lot of kids stepped up tonight, and we had some breakdowns, too."

Following Wuebker's 3, Dalton Wilson was fouled after securing a rebound on the defensive end. The senior knocked down both free throws with 20 seconds left on the clock and knocked down two more with less than 10 seconds remaining to give Advance (17-10) a six-point advantage.

Wilson finished with a game-high 19 points.

"Wilson stepped up, took control a little bit, made a couple buckets from the free-throw line," said Wheetley, whose team was 11 of 13 (85 percent) from the charity stripe. "That's the difference in winning these tough games like that."

Advance's Brian Whitson scored the game's first points on a fastbreak layup with 5:56 to go in the opening period. Gideon (20-7) tied the game twice before Armani Vermillion's driving layup sparked an 11-3 run for Advance in the final 3:15 of the quarter.

Wuebker said his team came out sluggish at the beginning.

"We came out thinking, 'We won districts, yeah.' We've got some more to go. We can't just quit. We've got to keep going, and tonight, we came out dead," Wuebker said. "We finally realized they might give us a battle, so we just stepped it up."

The Hornets carried a 15-7 advantage into the second period, but Glenn Redden scored back-to-back baskets to pull the Bulldogs within four points with 6:55 left in the first half.

Advance missed its first six shots of the second quarter until Wilson knocked down a jumper with 4:57 left in the second.

After Gideon cut its deficit to one point with 3:25 remaining in the first half, Wilson converted a conventional three-point play to spark a 6-2 spurt for the Hornets, who led 23-18 at halftime.

The Bulldogs began the second half with a 12-3 run that was capped by a layup by Buchanan at the 4:35 mark of the third quarter.

Clinging to a 30-26 advantage, Gideon was never able to extend its lead to more than four points, and Wilson knocked down a jumper as the buzzer signaled the end of the third period, cutting the Bulldogs' lead to 34-33.

"We'd get up two or three, but we never could bury them," Gideon coach Keenan Buchanan said. "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."

Buchanan, Allen Earnheart, Redden and Kason Lawrence each contributed eight points for the Bulldogs, who were 19 of 59 (32 percent) from the floor.

"We just didn't shoot very well," Keenan Buchanan said. "Advance might have had something to do with that, but we shot about 32 percent on the game. You can't win very many ball games if you shoot like that, but I thought it was a good ball game. I was proud of our kids. I thought they battled hard. ... Advance is a good team. I thought they looked good out there. I wish them all the luck in the world Saturday."

Wuebker finished with 10 points, while Whitson added 11 for the Hornets, who shot 19 of 53 (36 percent) from the field. Vermillion also contributed eight points off the bench.

"We've got bench players," Wuebker said. "We don't have much, but when they come off, they play hard. They play strong. They're smart. They might turn the ball over once in a while, but they've just got to improve and keep playing."

Advance will appear in a state quarterfinal for the second straight season. The Hornets will face South Iron (24-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Van Buren High School in Van Buren.

"It's good to get a close game like this," Wheetley said. "This is such a good experience for these kids right now. ... I see them growing up in front of my eyes every day, and here we are.

"We get another shot at it."

Advance1581020--53
Gideon7111611--45

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

GIDEON (45) -- Brian Buchanan 8, Allen Earnheart 8, Glenn Redden 8, Kason Lawrence 8, Chris Reed 7, Caleb Buchanan 3, Dylan Pickard 2, Dalen Hutchison 1. FG 19-59, FT 6-10, F 15. (3-pointers: Reed 1. Fouled out: none.)

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