Arcadia Valley, Mo. (KFMO) – The Arcadia Valley Tigers have won the Thanksgiving Tournament for the first time since 2009 after beating the South Iron Panthers 55-47.
The second seed Tigers used a brisk transition, suffocating defense, and sharpshooting early on to upend the top seeded Panthers.
Brayton Jarvis hit a pair from beyond the perimeter in the opening quarter to help AV to a 14-8 lead at the first quarter break. Jarvis hit another big three-pointer in the second quarter and finished the night with nine points.
The Tigers used an 11-point run to jump to a 22-8 lead. The run began with 16-seconds left in the first and spanned 3:13 into the second quarter before Ryder Middleton hit a free throw. Pressure mounted for the Panthers as they didn’t finish on a field goal in the second quarter until Brady Crum hit a put-back with 2:55 left in the frame. Crum converted on the and-one try and at the other end, Evan Inman split a trio of defenders to hit a lay-up.
Crum made another elbow jumper, and two more free throws to finish the first half with a game high 11 points as South Iron cut the deficit down to 27-21 at intermission.
Crum hit his first try from the field in the third quarter, and Cason Chilton bodied his way to the iron for a lay-in and the Panthers cut the deficit to 27-25. Inman hit his only three-pointer of the game moments later growing the advantage back to five.
Jarel Jackson led the Tigers with 12 points in the victory, his final make from the field came as the buzzer sounded on a three-point try before the third quarter expired.
The Panthers used a 12-2 run to get back within a possession at 42-40 with 4:14 left in regulation. And with South Iron in team foul trouble, Arcadia Valley knocked down key foul shots in the bonus. The Tigers were 21-for-30 at the foul line in the championship game despite only shooting 41-percent from the stripe in the quarterfinal and semifinal combined.
Kaiden Keith was 1-for-8 from the field in game but had 10 points overall knocking down 8-of-12 from the courtesy stripe. Dawson Boesing added a pair of threes in the win and 10 points total. Logan Dunn had six rebounds unofficially.
Crum finished with a game high 19 points in the loss.
Arcadia Valley (3-0) will face South Iron again on December 16. Both will be in the field of 16 in the 70th Bob Sechrest Jr. Central Christmas Tournament December 26-31.
4-Fredericktown needed overtime to oust 3-West County in the 3rd Place Game 55-47, and 5-Bismarck beat 7-Clearwater 74-64 in overtime for 5th Place.