WARDSVILLE, Mo. - The free-throw line was uncharted territory Thursday night, but the 3-point arc was as busy as it has been all season at Blair Oaks.
The Blair Oaks Falcons and Hermann Bearcats combined to shoot 19-of-45 from 3-point land in their semifinal of the Class 3 District 9 Tournament.
But it wasn't 3s that decided the outcome, it was defense and inside scoring.
The Falcons scored 18 of their 21 fourth-quarter points in the paint or at the free-throw line to pull away for a 63-52 win.
"We started to move the better and we broke their defense down a little bit," Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick said. "In the first half we were settling for a lot of 3s, we weren't getting post touches. I thought later on, especially in the fourth quarter, we got going downhill off the dribble and forced them to help off the dribble and we found the open guy to the basket several times."
Verslues got the fourth-quarter scoring started with his fourth and final 3. He tied for a game-high 20 points.
"He's a confident shooter," Fick said. "As of second half of the season he's really shot the ball well."
Ben Ward got a layup on Blair Oaks' next possession and Dylan Skinner got the gym rumbling with a steal and two-handed dunk.
"I could see in his eyes when he went out and got that deflection, I could see in his eyes that he had it in his mind," Fick said. "It was nice to see him finish it."
The seven-point lead was the largest at the time and Hermann could only get as close as four the rest of the way.
Blair Oaks went on an 11-3 run that lasted nearly half the quarter.
Hermann halted the run with a Chet Moeckli 3-pointer and the Bearcats got to within five with a Trey McKague layup with 2:14 left.
But the Bearcats went 0-for-3 from beyond the arc from there as the Falcons scored six straight points in the paint to seal the win.
The game started as a 3-point contest as the teams combined to make seven 3s in the first 4:25 of the game.
Three of those belonged to Tim Fick as he scored all nine of his points in the first quarter.
After Fick connected from deep with 4:35 left in the first quarter, the Falcons missed five straight and trailed 17-16 after eight minutes of play.
Blair Oaks made 9-of-23 from 3-point range while the Bearcats finished 10-of-22.
"A lot of the shots they took, especially early, were open looks because they ran their offense so well," Ryan Fick said. "I thought we had communication breakdowns early on with the multiple screens that they were setting."
Each team made two 3s in the second quarter, including one from Verslues to get Blair Oaks within a point of Hermann with 1:03 left before half. That 29-28 score would hold until Skinner knocked down a 3 at the 6:32 mark of the third quarter.
It was the first of four lead changes in the quarter as the game entered the fourth tied at 42.
Four Blair Oaks seniors combined to score 51 of the team's 63 points.
Skinner scored 14 and Jason Rackers had 13 to go along with Verslues' 20.
"Our seniors really came through late for us," Fick said. "This time of the year, that's what you expect from seniors."
Blair Oaks will see a familiar opponent in Saturday's championship game.
Southern Boone rallied to beat Father Tolton 53-51 in the other semifinal, creating the third matchup between the Falcons and Eagles this season.
"They played a great game against Tolton tonight," Fick said. " It's going to be an unbelievable atmosphere for a high school basketball game."
Southern Boone won 68-67 in the Tri-County Conference Tournament and Blair Oaks won the second matchup 65-52 in Wardsville.
This will be the fourth straight district title game for the Falcons with their last win being in 2015 against Eugene.
The last time these two teams played each other in a district game was in 2012 when Blair Oaks won 62-54 in the championship game.