‘It’s pretty high stakes’: Monroe City, Palmyra to meet for fourth time, this one for district title

PALMYRA, Mo. — Get ready for Monroe City versus Palmyra IV.

As expected, the top two seeds in the Class 3 District 6 boys basketball tournament won their semifinal-round games Wednesday night to set the stage for a fourth meeting this season in Friday night’s championship game.

Trey Smyser hit four 3-pointers in the first half and five overall as part of a game-high 22-point effort to help top-seeded Monroe City overcome early shooting woes to post a 55-41 victory over fourth-seeded Clark County in the opener.

Second-seeded Palmyra took the lead for good with 8.3 seconds to go in the first half on three free throws by Pierce White and then held South Shelby scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the second half to pull away for 53-37 win in the nightcap.

The two teams will collide at 6 p.m. Friday for the right to advance to Monday’s sectional against either Principia or Whitfield. Monroe City (19-6) has won all three meetings this season against Palmyra (23-5), including the championship games of their respective tournaments.

“It doesn’t really matter what happened in the last however meetings that we played,” Monroe City coach Brock Edris said. “Whoever plays better is going to win. That’s really what it comes down to.”

Monroe City, which had beaten Clark County 11 straight times, including twice already this season, struggled against the Indians’ zone defense in the first half, making just 11 of 30 field goal tries.

Except for Smyser. The senior guard sank three consecutive 3-pointers over the final two minutes, 14 seconds of the second quarter to give Monroe City a 31-20 lead.

That last came with Quincy Mayfield inbounding the ball from in front of the Clark County bench with 2 seconds remaining. Smyser caught the pass in the near corner and threw up an off-balanced shot high over the outstretched hands of a defender that found nothing but net.

“I told Quincy, ‘Dude, I’m feeling hot, throw me the ball,’” said Smyser, who scored 14 of his points in the first half. “He did and I did a little pump that got (the defender) in the air. Just a crazy shot.”

“If shots aren’t necessarily falling, you hope somebody’s got it falling,” Edris said. “Marty had a hot hand, and our team did a good job of getting him the ball.”

Quick buckets by Mayfield and Cole Hays to open the third quarter pushed the Monroe City lead to 35-20, but it could never quite deliver a knockout blow.

Despite going 7 of 26 from the field in the second half, Clark County trimmed the deficit to eight early in the fourth period. That’s when Mayfield found Abram Smyser open under the basket for a layup and Trey Smyser sank two free throws after being fouled on a backdoor cut to increase the lead to 12.

Both teams struggled to score in the final period, combining for just four made field goals and 18 points. Monroe City’s final seven points came from the free-throw line.

Harrison Parker scored 13 points to pace Clark County, which lost six of its last seven games to finish 10-16.

“We would have liked to have scored a little bit more, but we kept them at an arm’s reach, which was nice,” Edris said. “We’re going to have to play better in the next game if we want a chance to win.”

Palmyra coach Brian Rea expressed similar sentiments after watching his team miss 8 of 11 field goal attempts and manage just seven points in the first quarter against South Shelby, the third seed.

“We played a little tight, nervous, I think,” he said. “We’ve got some things to work on. (Monroe City) is similar to South in that they’re both physical and real good on the drive defensively. It’ll be a tough game. We need to try to play as mistake-free as possible.”

South Shelby, which had lost four straight and 19 of its previous 21 games against Palmyra dating to 2012, scored 20 of its 22 first-half points in the paint. Forwards Eli Hatcher and Noah Wilt combined for 10 points in the opening period and 21 overall.

The methodical Cardinals led 16-11 three minutes into the second quarter when Palmyra began to show patience and find its rhythm offensively. A jumper in the lane by Luke Sheppard, a 3-pointer by Mason Smith and back-to-back buckets by Hudson Bock drew the hosts within 22-21.

White was then fouled on a desperation 3-point try from deep on the left wing with seconds remaining, and he sank all three free throws to give Palmyra a lead it would never relinquish.

“We kind of lost our minds defensively in the first half,” Sheppard said. “We knew what they were going to do. We prepared for them three times. They love to drive down to the open guy.

“In the second half we followed the game plan and that’s why we held them to only 15 points.”

South Shelby (17-11) trailed 30-29 midway through the third quarter when its offense went cold. By the time Wilt put back a missed shot with 4:48 remaining in the game, the Cardinals trailed 42-31.

“We missed a couple of easy ones pretty early in the third and that gave them a four- or five-point lead,” South Shelby coach Kent O’Laughlin said. “They jumped in their press and we had three or four straight possessions where we melted down and let it go to double digits.

“You do that against them and you’re in trouble because they’re going to spread the floor. They’re as good as anybody there is at spreading it out and milking it until they get a gift to somebody standing underneath. And you know, that’s what they did.”

Playing deliberate and looking for cutters down the lane or along the baseline enabled Palmyra to shoot 60 percent from the field in the second half.

It led by as many as 19 points before Hatcher hit a 3-pointer in the final minute — South Shelby’s only made 3-pointer in 14 tries and its only made field goal outside the paint.

White finished with 13 points, Bock 11, Smith 10 and Sheppard nine for Palmyra, which has now won six straight since a 68-44 loss to Monroe City on Feb. 11.

Palmyra will need to exact some revenge to extend that streak if it wants to repeat as district champion.

“We’re getting the chance to beat a team that has beaten us three times this year,” Sheppard said. “It’s our rival school. It’s win or go home. It’s pretty high stakes.”