MOBERLY - The Eugene Eagles were off to a sprinting start Saturday, leading the Milan Wildcats by 22 points midway through the second quarter.
But Milan had an answer, and his name is Ryan Dabney.
Dabney, a 6-foot-5 senior, led the Wildcats with 30 points and 19 rebounds. Milan never led in the game until the 1:21 mark of the fourth quarter, rallying past Eugene for a 71-65 win in the Class 2 quarterfinals at Moberly Area Community College.
"We could not keep No. 33 off the boards," Eugene coach Craig Engelbrecht said of Dabney. "No matter if we played man or zone, he was a beast."
Milan (25-3), the No. 9 team in Class 2, advances to its first Final Four in program history. The Wildcats will face second-ranked Hartville (29-2) in the state semifinals at 8:10 p.m. Friday at Hammons Student Center in Springfield.
Eugene appeared to be on the way to its second Final Four in program history, piling up 40 points in the game's first 12 minutes.
The Eagles made their first six shots from 3-point range in the first quarter, including four from Dyson Samson, all from the left side of the floor. Samson finished the game 7-of-15 from 3 and scored a team-high 23 points for the Eagles.
"We worked against their press in practice yesterday, and Dyson was knocking them down out of the corner," Engelbrecht said.
Tyler Renn knocked down Eugene's sixth straight 3 in the closing seconds of the first quarter, putting the Eagles on top 25-17 after eight minutes.
Eugene then worked the ball inside to start the second quarter. The Eagles scored three straight baskets while drawing fouls in the paint, pushing their lead to 31-17 with 6:52 left in the first half.
However, Eugene missed each free-throw attempt on those three-point plays. The Eagles missed eight of their first nine free-throw attempts and finished the game just 12-of-26 at the line.
"Us missing free throws early, we could've had a much, much bigger lead," Engelbrecht said. "We could've been up by 30 if we could make our free throws.
"We were hoping that wouldn't come back to bite us, but it did."
Samson made a 3 from the top of the key and Colin Wunderlich hit a running jumper in the lane, stretching the Eugene lead to 40-18. That led to Milan coach Andrea Dabney calling her team's third timeout with 4:04 remaining in the second quarter, but it turned out to be a momentum-changer.
Milan answered with a 12-0 run, holding Eugene without a point for nearly four minutes. Tyler Renn drove the baseline for a layup with :14 left to give the Eagles a 42-30 halftime lead.
The Wildcats turned up their full-court pressure after the timeout, forcing six turnovers in the second quarter. They would force six more in the third as the Eagles struggled to move the ball up the court.
Engelbrecht said his team had to change its pressbreaker against Milan, using Tre Kempker to help bring the ball up the floor instead up posting up the 6-3 all-state guard at the end of the press.
"It kept us from getting him down low in the post," Engelbrecht said. "They're athletic and quick. We've had times this year where we coughed up the ball. We just didn't want to have a bunch of turnovers, but it was obviously too many."
Eugene was able to push its lead back to as many as 15 points in the third quarter, but Milan chipped it down to single digits at 55-49 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Ryan Dabney scored 18 points in the second half, including the go-ahead basket on an offensive rebound he ripped away from Kempker late in the fourth quarter to make the score 64-62 in Milan's favor.
"He's one of the best players we've faced," Engelbrecht said of the returning all-stater.
In addition to forcing 18 turnovers, Milan outrebounded Eugene 44-29.
"Anytime we got a stop, it seemed like they got the offensive putback," Engelbrecht said. "Even when we thought we had them blocked out, they still were able to get around us and get the ball."
Samson made a pair of 3s for Eugene's only field goals in the fourth quarter.
"His shooting against New Franklin got us to this point," Engelbrecht said. "He carried it over to today, just like he did Wednesday."
Kempker finished with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds in his final high school game.
"He became our all-time leading scorer after the New Franklin game and he's our all-time leading rebounder," Engelbrecht said. "That's quite a career."
Renn added 11 points for Eugene, which finishes the season with a 20-7 record and a share of the Show-Me Conference championship.
"It was a magical ride," Engelbrecht said.