Blair Oaks can't climb out of quick hole in semifinal against Cardinal Ritter

Blair Oaks teammates Eric Northweather (left) and Luke Northweather attempt to block a layup attempt by Brandon Ellington of Cardinal Ritter during Friday night's Class 3 state semifinal game at JQH Arena in Springfield.
Blair Oaks teammates Eric Northweather (left) and Luke Northweather attempt to block a layup attempt by Brandon Ellington of Cardinal Ritter during Friday night's Class 3 state semifinal game at JQH Arena in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD - Cardinal Ritter showed Blair Oaks what it was up against in a matter of seconds in Friday night's Class 3 semifinal game at JQH Arena.

Just 26 seconds in, Luther Burden had four points and a steal, and Glenn Valentine had a steal.

The Lions didn't stop there, scoring the game's first 15 points on their way to a 68-54 victory against the Falcons in a battle of the top two ranked teams in the state.

"We didn't score for almost the entire first quarter it seemed like," Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick said. "I know it wasn't that long, but boy, it sure seemed like it."

Second-ranked Cardinal Ritter (24-6) advances to play third-ranked Charleston (28-4) at 1:50 p.m. today in the state championship game at JQH Arena.

Charleston defeated sixth-ranked Monroe City (28-3) 51-49 in Friday's other semifinal.

Blair Oaks, entering the postseason as the top-ranked team, ends its season at 28-3 with the third-place game being canceled because of coronavirus concerns.

"We were glad that we got the one game and our guys got the experience," Fick said.

With the Lions starting to sprint away, the Falcons tried to close the gap quickly with a pair of early 3-pointers.

They didn't drop like they have lately for Blair Oaks, and the hole kept going deeper and deeper. A Mario Fleming layup at the 3:28 mark of the opening quarter grew the deficit to 15-0.

Blair Oaks scored its first points in a state semifinal game since 2001 when Jake Closser made two free throws 4:47 into the contest.

"I thought it took a little while for us to adapt or adjust to their speed and athleticism tonight," Fick said. "I thought once we did, though, when we went to the zone, we kind of settled in, we guarded better, thought we were getting better possessions offensively."

The Falcons transitioned into a 3-2 zone and the margin began to shrink as defensive stops meant confidence at the other end.

"I think when we went to zone we matched up a little bit better," Closser said. "They were just getting inside, kicking off to their bigs."

Eric Northweather made his first of two 3s from the left wing at the 2:23 mark and Carson Prenger later added a layup in the closing seconds of the quarter to get within 15-9.

What made it difficult to make a full rebound from the start was Cardinal Ritter's tight defense on the perimeter. The Falcons made 6-of-20 from 3-point range.

"They guarded on the perimeter a little better than what we had seen in awhile," Fick said. "At first, it took us a little bit to adjust."

Closser matched Northweather with two 3s for six points. Northweather had nearly 10 points under his season average with 14 points.

"I've come to watch games here before and it's awesome to actually be out there for once," Northweather, a senior, said.

Luke Northweather led the Falcons with 16 points and 11 of the team's 20 rebounds.

Cardinal Ritter dominated the boards as its 6-foot-7 forwards Garry Clark and Brandon Ellington each had five rebounds, while Fleming had seven.

Clark scored 17 points, Burden added 16 and Fleming finished with 13.

Blair Oaks got as close as five in the first half at 25-20 on two Luke Northweather free throws. Cardinal Ritter led 29-22 at halftime.

Cardinal Ritter's speed and athleticism took over late in the third quarter with an 11-2 run that included a three-point play by Fleming set up by two offensive rebounds.

The Lions took a 48-31 lead into the final quarter.

"They are so hard to contain off the dribble, then they rebound so well," Fick said. "Offensive rebounds on their end killed us."