A 61-53 road win at Festus High on Feb. 13 accomplished two things for the Windsor High boys basketball team: it kept the Tigers from clinching the conference championship, and it put the Owls in prime position to repeat.
For the third Friday night in a row, Festus (16-7) lost a home game, and completed their Jefferson County Activities Association large-schools schedule 6-2. Meanwhile, Windsor paid Festus back for a loss to the Tigers in Imperial in December, is 15-9 and can win its second straight conference crown outright after beating Perryville High (9-14, 1-6) 67-47 on Tuesday and a win over De Soto (4-16, 1-6) on Friday night.
Windsor head coach Brian Gilbert said multiple Owls crowded Festus center Nate Womack and Womack got into early foul trouble. Womack finished with eight points and four fouls.
“They play through (Womack), and we threw multiple bodies at him and upped the ball pressure so he couldn’t see the inside passes. We made them take tough twos (from the field) all night,” Gilbert said.
Festus head coach Dan Johnson lamented the opportunity to close out the JCAA title. Over the last three Fridays, the Tigers fell to Bunker, which was unbeaten at the time and is now 22-1, Hillsboro and Windsor.
“We did a poor job of finishing around the basket early on,” Johnson said. “Part of that was Windsor had us crowded inside. Nate was in foul trouble all night. We were down two going to the fourth, and we had a terrible start.”
Gilbert said he studied how Hillsboro (10-10, 3-3) had beaten Festus 65-60. Such was the plan to stymie Womack and put Ethan Shirk on Tiger combo guard Drew Johnson, who had made nine 3-point baskets and scored 30 points in a 75-52 win at Poplar Bluff in the game prior to the Owls.
“Hillsboro gave us the blueprint,” Gilbert said. “You could see it with
(Hillsboro’s Cooper McGrath and Brendan Poyner) and every loose ball was theirs. We have two conference games left, and they will be battles against teams who have pride in their programs and nothing’s given.”
Shirk and Johnson have been playing against each other since the fifth grade. Johnson’s production was whittled down to 13 points and no makes from 3-point range.
“They have a good book on each other,” Gilbert said. “We understand what Drew brings to the table, and Ethan is a guy who wants to guard the best player night in and out and asks for more. (Shirk) might not be the biggest or toughest, but makes it up with sheer determination.”
Owen Haegele made all nine field-goal attempts from 2-point range, 11 FGs in total and led Windsor with a season-high 27 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists. Haegele benefited from baskets-and-ones a few times after being fouled.
“He couldn’t be stopped,” Gilbert said.
As valuable as the 12 points scored each by Colby Blake and Xander Smith were, Gilbert said their grit helped stand up to the big bodies on the Tigers, who beat the Owls by 19 points in December. Sam Becker made big shots down the stretch and scored eight points.
“We didn’t like how things unfolded when they came to our house,” Gilbert said. “When you go to Festus, you understand what you’re up against. They bring the whole world down on you, and we love that. Communication and execution are tough in that gym, and we rolled with the punches all night long. Our energy was very connected.”
Festus beat North County High 77-54 in Bonne Terre on Tuesday. The Tigers are at South Iron High on Friday, and at home against Seckman High on Feb. 23 and at Fox High the next night.
“The thing that bothers me the most is it seems like we’ve lost all three of those (Friday) games the same way,” Johnson said. “When we haven’t scored easily, we haven’t been patient or disciplined enough to fight through that. They made enough plays and kept us at arm’s length. They did a good job of guarding the 3-point line. You shouldn’t be able to shut down inside presence and the outside too. If we stick those early layups, it’s a different game.”