MOBERLY - The St. Elizabeth Hornets are known more for their size and post play at the Class 1 level.
So it came as quite a shock to St. Elizabeth coach Dillon Tenholder when his team came out Friday night and made its first 10 attempts from 3-point range against the Meadville Eagles.
"No, especially in a game like this," Tenholder said after St. Elizabeth defeated Meadville 82-71 in the Class 1 quarterfinals at Moberly Area Community College. "Meadville, most of their kids are 6-foot to 6-2. You have the size advantage, you figure to get the ball inside to the bigs and go from there.
"I don't know if we've hit 10 3s in a game this year."
Well, St. Elizabeth has once this season, knocking down 13 shots beyond the arc in their regular-season finale against New Bloomfield. On Friday, the Hornets finished 11-of-13 from 3, shooting much better than their season average of 30.3 percent from 3.
With the quarterfinal win, St. Elizabeth (24-5), the fourth-ranked team in Class 1, advances to the Final Four for a second straight season. The Hornets await the winner of today's quarterfinal game between No. 7 Golden City (26-2) and unranked Green Ridge (19-8), which will be played at 2:45 p.m. at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar.
"Golden City is going to look to get up and down the floor, Green Ridge is looking to play a little bit slower of a pace," Tenholder said.
St. Elizabeth will face the winner in the Class 1 semifinals at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at JQH Arena in Springfield.
The Hornets trailed for just 15 seconds against the Eagles. Ross Struemph drove from the top of the key for a layup to put St. Elizabeth ahead 3-2 with 5:54 remaining in the opening quarter.
Then the 3-point barrage began.
Brock Lucas drained a 3 from the left wing, then Nolan Heckemeyer hit three consecutive 3s - two from the top of the key, the third from the left corner. That extended the Hornets' lead to 17-7, forcing Meadville to call a timeout with 1:42 to go in the opening quarter.
"He came out with confidence," Tenholder said of Nolan Heckemeyer, who added another 3 in the second quarter and finished with 17 points. "It got him going, it got the rest of the guys going, it got the crowd into it."
Carson Kesel came off the bench and knocked down five 3s in the second quarter, finishing with 15 points. Each of his last four 3s extended the Hornets' lead to 15 points, their largest lead of the game.
Kesel made 4-of-7 from 3 and scored 16 points in last year's quarterfinal win against Lakeland.
"Carson must love quarterfinal games," Tenholder said. "He's a spark plug. That second quarter is the definition of Carson Kesel. That's why we love him as our sixth man."
St. Elizabeth finally missed from 3 with about a minute left in the first half. Problem was, Meadville did a good job matching the Hornets from deep in the second quarter.
Ethan Newlin drained a 3, Meadville's seventh of the game, just before the buzzer to cut St. Elizabeth's halftime lead to 47-40.
"We were on pace to give up 80 points," Tenholder said. "We give up about 50 on average. Meadville shot the ball well."
St. Elizabeth only took two shots from 3 after halftime. In the second half, they took advantage of their inside play.
The Hornets made six baskets in the lane during the third quarter, pushing their lead to 65-52 entering the fourth.
"Our kids are smart," Tenholder said. "As long as they're taking great shots, that's the main thing. A lot of it was just letting the game come to them."
Struemph dominated in the second half, finishing with a game-high 31 points on 14-of-22 shooting. He added a team-high seven rebounds.
"That's why he's an all-stater," Tenholder said. " He's a guy who wants the basketball in big-time situations."
Meadville didn't make its first substitution until :59 remained in the game. The Eagles shot 45 percent from the floor, 15-of-17 from the free-throw line, and committed just four turnovers.
"They pretty much do that night in and night out," Tenholder said. "It says a lot about their program in general. You have to be conditioned very well to do that."
Dominik Gannan scored a team-high 28 points for Meadville (26-3), while Parker Burton added 25 points. Connor Fletcher also had 10 points for the Eagles.
Brady Heckemeyer added five points in the fourth quarter, becoming St. Elizabeth's fourth scorer in double figures with 10 points.
Tenholder expects the Hornets' next two games to be high-scoring like Friday night's contest. Among the remaining five Class 1 schools still alive, Delta averages 95.3 points per game, followed by Dora (79.4), Golden City (70.3), Jefferson: Conception Junction (68.5) and Green Ridge (60.7).
St. Elizabeth is averaging 68 points per game.
"We like high-scoring games," Tenholder said. "Maybe not so much defensively, but we also like to get up and down the floor. That's exciting to look forward to."