Semoball

Risco falls to No. 1 ranked Dora 74-37 in Class 1 boys basketball quarterfinal

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Risco's Garrett Young penetrates against the Dora defense in a Class 1 boys basketball quarterfinal Saturday at Van Buren High School.

VAN BUREN, Mo. - The Risco Tigers boys basketball program finished a win shy of making its first trip to the state final four Saturday afternoon.

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Risco's Daniel Payne takes a shot against the Dora defense in a Class 1 boys basketball quarterfinal Saturday at Van Buren High School.

The Dora Falcons, which are ranked No. 1 in the latest state poll, outscored Risco in every quarter on its way to a convincing 74-37 victory in a Class 1 quarterfinal at Van Buren High School.

“Dora is obviously a great team,” Risco coach Brandon Blankenship said. “You cannot afford to dig yourself a hole against a team like Dora. We tried to weather the storm early but when they come out hot like that there is not a whole lot you can do honestly.”

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Risco's Nathan Burnett handles the ball against the Dora defense in a Class 1 boys basketball quarterfinal Saturday at Van Buren High School.

Dora opened the game on fire from the perimeter, knocking down four of its five 3-pointers in the first quarter. The hot start gave Dora a 21-6 lead by the 2:31 mark of the first quarter.

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Risco's EJ Myers handles the ball against the Dora defense in a Class 1 boys basketball quarterfinal Saturday at Van Buren High School.

Dora standout guard Isaac Haney helped fuel his squad’s perimeter attack early. The sophomore guard hit all three of his treys in the opening eight minutes of play.

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Risco's Treston Meese handles the ball against the Dora defense in a Class 1 boys basketball quarterfinal Saturday at Van Buren High School.

Risco, which trailed 23-9 after the first quarter, was unable to get closer in the second quarter.

Dora outscored Risco 24-11 in the second quarter to increase its lead to 47-20 by halftime.

The Falcons turned its attention to attacking the basket after a hot start from the perimeter. All dozen of Dora's second-quarter field goals were 2-point baskets. Many of the buckets were transition layups that became available after Risco committed turnovers.

“They’ve got four guys who are pretty good at guarding the ball,” Blankenship said. “They also run and jump you. It makes it tough to run your offense. They were able to deflect some of our passes and get some easy buckets.”

Risco enjoyed some success at the start of the second half as it scored the first four points on a free throw by Garrett Young and 3-pointer by Nathan Burnett to cut Dora’s lead to 47-24 with 7:01 left in the third quarter. But Dora followed with the next seven points to move ahead 54-24 with 4:20 left in the third period and continued to lead by 30 at 65-35 at the start of the fourth quarter.

“We talked about just taking it one possession at a time,” Blankenship said. “The goal the third quarter was to cut it to 15 by the start of the fourth quarter. We got some early stops in the third quarter but then they went on some more runs to stretch it out.”

Senior guard Nathan Burnett finished with a team-high 11 points in his final game as a Tiger. He hit three off his team’s seven 3-pointers. Burnett, who is the all-time leading scorer in Risco history, finishes his high school career with 2,109 points at the varsity level.

“The career he has had has been phenomenal,” Blankenship said. “You cannot say enough about him. He not only scores but also takes care of the ball, guards the other team’s best player, and is one of our top all-time assist leaders. We ask a lot of him and he has always risen to the occasion.”

Three sophomores scored in double digits for Dora.

Haney led the way with 24 points. Sophomore guard Bryson Luna added 16 points and sophomore center Waylon Masters tallied 14 points.

Dora (29-1) will play St. Elizabeth (22-5) in a Class 1 semifinal Friday at 2:40 p.m. at Hammons Student Center in Springfield.

Risco finishes its season with a record of 24-6. The Tigers reached the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2010 when it was eliminated by Scott County Central 100-53 in a Class 1 quarterfinal.

“I want to thank our fans and cheerleaders,” Blankenship said. “We’ve had great fan support throughout this run. Thanks to everybody.”

Risco finished first in the Holcomb Invitational, Clarkton Christmas Tournament, Tri-County Conference Tournament, and Class 1, District 1 in the 2018-19 season marking the first time the Tigers have won four tournaments.

“When they were sophomores we won three tournaments but didn’t win the district,” Blankenship said. “This year was the first time we beat Scott County Central and the first time we won four tournaments. We set some milestones for our program.”

Risco graduates six seniors - EJ Myers, Nathan Burnett, Treston Meese, Garrett Young, James Riddell, and Daniel Payne.

“Daniel Payne came along later but the other five we’ve had since elementary,” Blankenship said. “We were excited when this group entered high school. We knew they were going to do something special and they had their eyes on a final four birth. They finished one game short of that but one game doesn’t define the players or more importantly the people they are. They’ve brought our program a long way.”

Dora 74, Risco 37

DHS 23 2418 9 - 74

RHS 9 11 15 2 - 37

DORA (74) - Isaac Haney 24, Colby Hoover 2, Kyle Hambelton 1, Bryson Luna 16, Mason Luna 9, Waylon Master 14, Auston Luna 8. FG 26, FT 17/26, F 9. (3-pointers: Haney 3, Auston Luna 1, Bryson Luna 1; Fouled out: None).

RISCO (37) - EJ Myers 9, Nathan Burnett 11, Evan Pipkin 3, Treston Meese 2, Garrett Young 6, James Riddell 4, Daniel Payne 2. FG 12, Ft 6/9, F 24. (3-pointers: Myers 2, Burnett 3, Pipkin 1, Young 1; Fouled out: Young).

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