Green Ridge exited the Class 1 Missouri state basketball tournament Tuesday, Feb. 28 at Smith-Cotton High School in Sedalia with a loss to Hermitage, 69-53.
Keaton Gibbs led the Tigers with 22 points and fouled out with less than 2 minutes to play on a technical.
Alex Rebikh scored 12 points and Ryan Dove had 11.
Hermitage forward Victor Le Verdier led all scorers with 24 points.
The Tigers (12-12) improved by 5 games in 2016-17, dethroning reigning champion Otterville in the District 8 tournament last Friday.
Head coach Jason Cannon said Green Ridge can build on its 2017 success.
Our kids, it hurts. It hurts them,” Cannon said of the loss. “But that’s a good thing. Now, we’ve got a taste. We’ve got a taste of success, and it’s our chance to turn Green Ridge into a basketball program.”
Hermitage built a lead as big as 23-10 in the first half, feeding off Green Ridge turnovers. A 14-4 run closed the gap to five points a minute before halftime.
The Hornets opened the second half with a 10-2 run before another Tiger charge. Gibbs punctuated a 13-0 Green Ridge run to make it a 1-point contest in the third quarter.
Green Ridge scored no points from 3-point range, while Hermitage hit five shots from beyond the arc. The Tigers finished 8-for-20 from the free-throw line.
Cannon said individual confidence played a role against the now 27-win Hornets.
“You could tell the difference between the poise of some of their players, understanding that sometimes you have got to play through contact and you’re not going to get a call — whereas our confidence kind of waned at times.
“I think the confidence factor was more of an aggression issue.”
Green Ridge is one of three Kaysinger Conference schools to win a district tournament in 2017, joining Sacred Heart and Cole Camp.
Hermitage (27-3) advance to face Walnut Grove, a team that delivered two losses to the Hornets in the regular season, 1 p.m. Saturday at Clinton High School in Clinton.
