02-24-16
BY JACK BULLOCK
VIENNA - Getting off to a pretty good start always helps and a even better finish is preferred in any venture.

For the Vienna Eagles on Wednesday night in the 2A Regional semifinals, it came down to overcoming their own mistakes and exemplify the oppositions errors.

Forcing Anna-Jonesboro into a tough shooting night and taking advantage of the Wildcats' foul issues, the Eagles improved to 17-13 on the season with a 70-65 overtime win.

Coach Mike Chamness' Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats, on the other hand, missed enough shots that could have made them winners in this contest.

Hitting just 1-of-13 field goals in the first quarter and not heating up until the fourth, the Wildcats looked the part of a defeated team heading into the final stanza.

Forcing eight Eagles' turnovers, A-J rallied to force an extra session.

Zach Moore, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, netted a team-high 21-points and he and his teammates knocked down 20-of-23 free throws to reach the title game of their own regional to be played on Friday night.

Moore added six assists and came up with a couple of huge blocked shots in the contest.

Six-foot-three junior forward Brandon Casey added 13-points for the Eagles and head coach Cory Waters.

Nolan Dahncke, a sophomore forward, added 10-points to the totals.

“We want the ball in his (Moore) hands and he got the job done for us tonight,” said Coach Waters. “I thought we did a much better job tonight rebounding and defending, it has been something we have been struggling with.”

Anna-Jonesboro (16-13) ended its season despite getting 19-points inside from sophomore Jake Parr and 15-points from sophomore Sheldon McGrath.

Senior guard Hunter Garver closed his basketball career with 12-points.

The Wildcats shot themselves in the foot but is was a wonder they could hit it, missing 42-field goals in the game (25-of-67).

“What it comes down to is executing and making shots. If we make one more in regulation we win. I thought they did a good job converting from the free throw line. It seemed like we couldn't get them to miss,” said Coach Chamness. “And on the other end we couldn't get a bucket.”

Defense, as it turned out, kept them in the game and get them a lead in the overtime period.

Anna-Jonesboro forced the hosts into 20-turnovers, including eight in a fourth quarter stretch that allowed the Wildcats to rally to force the overtime.

However the Wildcats ran out of steam as the Eagles used the foul line to make 12-of-14 in the final four minutes to pick up the victory.

After taking a lead of 3-0 in the opening minutes of the game, A-J went icy cold, missing 12-shots in the quarter as Vienna scored eight-straight points.

Bradley and Casey hit shots and Moore added a pair of baskets on drives and jump shots to take a five-point lead at the end of one.

Vienna committed four turnovers in the early going, making it impossible to improve on their lead.

A 9-0 run in the middle of the second quarter, sparked by Casey, gave Vienna its first double-digit lead.

He scored six-straight points after teammate junior Lucas Strickland scored his only points of the game on a 3-pointer from the left corner.

Casey nailed two free throws to close the run with Vienna up 21-8 with 2:49 left.

Anna-Jonesboro finally got some offense going in the second, with Stark and senior Garrett Nimmo netting 3-pointers.

Parr hit a couple of shots in the lane and when Stark hit his long range shot from the left corner with a bit over a minute to play, the score was 25-17 at the half.

Vienna could have pushed the lead further had the not committed four more turnovers in the second.

A-J got to within six-points on two separate occasions in the third quarter, only to see Vienna strike back.

Three more treys hit by Stark, Nimmo and McGrath got the Wildcats close in the third.

But Moore, Dahncke and Casey matched those bombs.

When Moore nailed his shot and Bradley followed with a rebound putback, Vienna led 46-36 heading home.

Anna-Jonesboro nearly pulled off the storybook comback, getting even in the final minute of play and having a final shot that would have won the game.

Vienna led 51-40 after the Eagles' Ben Daine took an assist from Moore for a lay in while being fouled.

His “And-One” gave the Eagles an 11-point spread with 6:45 remaining.

But eight-consecutive A-J points made things interesting in a hurry.

Buckets by Dakota Earnhart and McGrath and four-straight free throws from Stark, cut the lead to just 53-50.

The Eagles appeared headed for the win in regulation when they hit 3-of-4 free throws and led 56-52 with just 1:10 left.

But Parr scored on a rebound and then on a nice pass from McGrath and suddenly the game was even at 56-all.

Holding for a final shot, Vienna got the ball to Moore but his off-balanced shot fell off and Anna-Jonesboro got the ball back with a final play on an inbound chance.

Following a timeout, Earnhart took a pass near the midcourt line. He took a dribble to get closer and his look from the 3-point line on the left wing missed at the buzzer as the two teams headed to the extra frame.

Anna-Jonesboro even took a brief lead in the OT but they couldn't sustain in.

Parr scored in the paint to give A-J its only lead since 3-0 when he cut to the basket for a 58-56 lead.

The next eight points came from the hosts on a basket by Moore going to the basket and 6-of-6 from the foul line from Dahncke and senior Jarrod Wiggs.

Dahncke hit four-straight and the lead was back to 64-58.

Parr added one final basket but the Eagles closed it out with 6-of-7 from the stripe.

The Eagles finished 23-of-44 overall from the floor (52.2 percent) and held a 34-27 rebounding edge.

Despite the 20-turnovers, Coach Waters' club will now face Mount Carmel in the title game on Friday.

The Golden Aces rolled past Eldorado on Tuesday night, 69-52 to reach the championship game.

I thought we played in a kind of panic mode in the first half but I thought we finally reacted. We finally made some of those open shots but it came down to we didn't make as many as they did,” said Coach Chamness.