SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The St. Elizabeth Hornets had led nearly the entire game, but when the fourth quarter began in Saturday's Class 1 third-place contest, they found themselves trailing by three points.
It was gut-check time, and the Hornets rose to the occasion.
Ross Struemph scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the final eight minutes, which helped propel St. Elizabeth past the Linn County Mustangs for a 66-61 win at JQH Arena.
"You have eight minutes left in the entire season," St. Elizabeth coach Dillon Tenholder said. "You can be tired and sore tomorrow.
"They responded very well, in the way we needed them to."
The Hornets finish third in Class 1 with a 24-6 record.
"Our concern was after yesterday's game, you always worry about a letdown," Tenholder said. "We didn't know how it would go. We could definitely see the fatigue, especially as the game wore on, but they kept battling and ultimately got the job done."
There were no signs of a letdown in the game's first two minutes, when St. Elizabeth built an 11-0 lead. After missing a shot on the game's opening possession, the Hornets scored on each of their next four possessions.
"Us being down 10 is nothing," said Linn County coach Jason White, whose team fell behind 16-0 in Friday's semifinal game against Jefferson: Conception Junction. "It hasn't been all year, it's not anything we're afraid of."
White didn't call a timeout to stop the run, and his team slowly worked its way back into the game. But it took some time, as St. Elizabeth led 20-9 after one quarter and was ahead by as many as 13 points in the second quarter.
Michael O'Kane hit a deep 3-pointer and Kade Ward followed with a coast-to-coast layup, pulling the Mustangs within five points at 30-25 with 3:49 left in the second quarter. However, Linn County did not score the rest of the half, missing three shot attempts and committing a turnover.
After getting a basket by Brady Heckemeyer, St. Elizabeth held the ball for the final minute of the first half. Coltin Green finished the half with a 3 from the right corner, sending the Hornets into the locker room with a 35-25 lead.
"It's been that way all season for us," said White, who has previously coached the Eugene girls basketball team. " Our speech at halftime was simple: Stop turning the ball over ... and to move the ball."
The halftime talk worked, as Linn County outscored St. Elizabeth 20-7 in the third quarter.
The Hornets shot just 2-of-15 from the field in the third as the Mustangs closed in on the lead. Chadley Waltz hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 42, then Cody Murrell knocked down a 3 from the left corner to give Linn County its first lead of the game with 1:01 left in the third.
The score would remain 45-42 in the Mustangs' favor entering the fourth quarter.
"They were hurting us with their transition," Tenholder said. "We were getting guys back because they were hitting transition 3s, getting out and running on us."
The inside shots hadn't been falling for St. Elizabeth, which finished the game shooting just 34.8 percent from the field. But with time running out, the Hornets got the ball in the paint in the fourth.
Brock Lucas began working the ball inside to Struemph, who scored 10 straight points for the Hornets.
"I just told the wings to clear out and I'll just get him the ball and let him go to work," said Lucas, who finished with six assists.
The first four baskets by Struemph each tied the score in a seesaw battle, but the fifth - an offensive putback - gave St. Elizabeth a 53-51 lead with 4:27 to play.
"I knew I had to step up for my team," said Struemph, who grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. "I didn't want to come out of here with fourth place."
The score was tied at 55 - the sixth tie of the quarter - with less than three minutes to play. Struemph made 1-of-2 free throws, but Linn County answered on the other end with a basket by O'Kane, who had a chance for a three-point play with 2:09 remaining.
O'Kane missed the free throw, leaving Linn County ahead by one point. Struemph answered with a basket on the other end, and the Hornets never trailed again.
The Mustangs missed their next three shots, while St. Elizabeth pulled ahead 62-57 with :25 to play.
The Hornets shot just 14-of-25 from the free-throw line, but Lucas made 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute.
"After I hit the two free throws yesterday, I had a lot more confidence going into today's game," said Lucas, who also had 13 points.
St. Elizabeth sealed the win with an in-bounds baseball pass to a wide-open Green, who scored the easy layup. Lucas then got a steal under the basket and drew a foul, making both free throws to increase the lead to 66-59 with :09 left in the game.
The baseball pass was a fitting clincher for St. Elizabeth, which finished runner-up in Class 1 at last season's state baseball championships. Nine of the basketball team's 13 players were on that team and will finally begin spring baseball practice Monday after pushing basketball season to the max.
"I don't know if we'll be ready for the (Vienna Jamboree) on Tuesday, but down the stretch, I'm sure we'll figure it out," said Nolan Heckemeyer, one of the starters on last year's baseball team.
Linn County (15-9) was led by two players with double-doubles, as Waltz finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out and Jase White had 13 points and 14 rebounds. O'Kane added 14 points for the Mustangs and Ward chipped in 10 points.
Brady Heckemeyer also reached double figures for St. Elizabeth with 16 points, scoring 11 in the first half.
"We needed to step up and finish strong in the paint," said Heckemeyer, who shot 7-of-13 from the field.
St. Elizabeth will return all five starters next season, graduating just three seniors.
"We have so much coming back, and to have this experience is great moving forward," Tenholder said. "The key is not getting complacent and continuing to get better and do the things we need to, to get back and hopefully play for a state championship next year."