Lions win thriller

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Senath-Hornersville's Skyler Droke (44) gets a hand on a shot by Holcomb's Steven Kirkpatrick during the first half of Friday's boys' basketball game at Senath. [Click to enlarge]

In what was one of the quietest quarters of action all season long, the two teams sputtered out of the gate to a 4-4 score after one period. Michael Casey picked up all four points on the period for Holcomb while seniors Skyler Droke and Cody Anderson dropped two apiece for the Lions.

Things improved slightly in the second quarter for the two offenses. Point guard Alex Tidwell broke the ice for Senath-Hornersville by knocking down a 3-pointer from the wing to help add to Senath's 13 points in the second period. On the other side, Lucas Fuller tossed in four of Holcomb's six second-quarter points as the two teams headed into the locker rooms with the Lions holding a 17-10 advantage.

The action picked up in the third period as Heath Murdock dropped in eight points to help cut into the Senath-Hornersville lead. Droke matched Murdock on the interior with six points of his own on the period while Tidwell knocked down another 3 from long range. The Hornets' 14 third-quarter points were more than their entire first half total. When the smoke settled, the Lions still led 32-24 heading into the final quarter.

Minutes into the final frame, the Lions' Cody Anderson fouled Steven Kirkpatrick on a 3-point attempt and was also assessed a technical foul on the play, which meant five free throws for the Hornets.

After making three of the five foul shots, Holcomb had trimmed the Senath-Hornersville lead to five points. Holcomb went on to score 10 of the next 12 points to take its first lead of the game by a count of 38-37.

After Droke and Murdock traded baskets, Dustin Hunter hit a layup with 12 seconds left to put the Lions back in front 41-40. Holcomb coach Seth McBroom called timeout with eight seconds on the clock and his team down by one. On the final play of the game, the designed play broke down amidst contact on the desperation Kirkpatrick shot at the buzzer as the Senath-Hornersville crowd erupted.

In his final regular season game as a Hornet, Murdock led the Holcomb offense with 17 points to cap off a strong senior season.

Lions seniors Hunter, Tidwell and Droke all finished in double figures with 12, 11, and 10 points respectively.

Both teams competed in the Class 2, District 1 Tournament at Holcomb Saturday. Results from those games will appear in Tuesday's Daily Dunklin Democrat.