Penney cashiers Chiefs in Class 2 sectional

Senior Ben Catlett (3) drew the foul and made both free throws to give the Chiefs an 11-7 first-quarter lead. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Penney High of Hamilton cashed in at the free-throw line down the stretch Wednesday to deposit a 60-53 MSHSAA Class 2 Sectional victory over the Chiefs.

"We knew we would have to finish shots and control the glass" to win, remarked Santa Fe head coach Travis Zahl. "We didn't do either."

Zahl had predicted going into the game that it would be "a test of wills," which is usually the case for playoff clashes between quality teams, and this was obvious from the defensive intensity.

Both teams deployed full-court presses and dropped into man-to-man half-court defenses, although the Chiefs would blink first by switching to a zone during the second half -- with unsatisfactory consequences.

Sophomore Keagan Prather's three-pointer gave the Hornets an early 5-2 lead, but Santa Fe came back with a 9-2 run as senior Bryan Sander scored six of his eight first-quarter points. Drives by Prather and sophomore Trevor Dixon tied the contest before the end of the period, and the second frame was not much more than a tooth-pulling struggle for both offenses -- with the Chiefs leading by a point at the break.

"We let their pressure bother us," Zahl admitted. "We didn't get into our offense and weren't aggressive enough attacking it."

That Penney was still close after shooting 25.8 percent from the field and committing 11 turnovers may have proved to its advantage -- because both figures were bound to improve during the second half.

Santa Fe was grappling with its own demons, most notably lax defensive rebounding. The Hornets recovered 12 of their 25 missed shots during the half, although scoring only seven second-chance points. And at 36.8 percent, the Chiefs weren't exactly shooting the lights out -- while suffering from a 31-19 deficit in field-goal attempts.

Hamilton came out of intermission with a 9-2 surge, kicked off by Dixon's bomb. Mostly, though, the Hornets were finding cracks in Santa Fe's zone, their next six buckets being lay-ups -- four by junior Brandon Hemry.

"We stayed in the zone too long," Zahl conceded. "We let them get too much into a rhythm."

Meanwhile, the Chiefs were missing shots from the paint -- getting five blocked by the shorter Penney club -- but seniors Taylor Wesley and Ben Catlett connected from outside to go into the fourth quarter down by only two points.

Catlett tied the game with a trey with five minutes remaining, but the Hornets surged ahead on Hemry's low-block chippy and a coast-to-coast dash by Prather off the defensive boards.

Senior Joseph Pickrell found the mark from beyond the arc and Dixon pulled up for a 15-footer to make it 46-40 with 2:57 to go. Catlett completed a conventional three-point play and Santa Fe began fouling -- hoping the Hornets 61.2-percent free-throw shooting this season would hold true.

It didn't. Penney sank 12 of 14 charity shots during the final 2:07 and, despite threes from junior Matt Lovercamp and Catlett, the Chiefs could pull no closer than two points.

"They had two kids in the game who weren't great free-throw shooters and we weren't able to foul them once," Zahl noted.

Santa Fe's last, best hope came while trailing by three with 41 seconds left, but senior Brett Case missed the front end of a one-and-one and neither Sander nor Wesley could convert offensive rebounds.

"We missed some opportunities down the stretch, but we had dug ourselves into a hole with our out-of-sync play earlier," Zahl said. "Our kids played hard and showed a lot of heart. They didn't quit until the final buzzer."

However, that horn finished the hoops careers of all five starters for the Chiefs (26-3), who got 14 points each from Sander and Catlett.

Dixon's 19 points and nine rebounds led Penney (25-4), who will play defending state champion Harrisburg in Saturday's quarterfinal at Kirksville.

It's been a long road for Santa Fe's seniors, some of whom were starting as freshmen on a 1-22 club which was winless in league play. However, perseverance paid off -- if not in a state title, at least in several of the other goals which the Chiefs had set for themselves.

"They're a fun and easy group to coach because they listen and try their hardest to do what you tell them," Zahl said. "They don't care who gets the points, but about getting the win."

And that's the mark of a champion, with or without the trophy to show for it.