Final Four Bound! Kingsville Tigers Basketball Team Wins School’s First-Ever State Quarterfinal Basketball Game

The Kingsville boys basketball team made school history by securing Kingsville’s first-ever state tournament quarterfinal victory with a win against Wheatland by the final score of 74-56 at Clinton High School Saturday, March 7.

All five of Kingsville’s starting players in the game scored in double digits during the Class 1 Boys State Basketball Tournament quarterfinal win as the Tigers avenged a three-point loss suffered to the Mules in the sectional round of the tournament on Kingsville’s home court last season.

The Tigers held Wheatland to six points in the first quarter while five points from sophomore Jack Ewing, a three-pointer from senior guard Chase Stout, and a free throw from senior center John Fleeman allowed Kingsville to take a 9-6 lead into the second period.

After Wheatland guard Nathan Sawyer connected on a three-pointer to open the second quarter, Tiger junior guard Gavin Mullins scored on a twisting lay-up to give Kingsville a two-point lead. The Tigers held the lead in the game from that point on, and extended their advantage to 30-19 at halftime.

“Our first-half defense was really good…19 points, man, it was great,” said Kingsville boys basketball head coach Bill Adams. “We forced them into turnovers. We had some chances for some lay-ups. That gave them a lot of confidence.

“We just did some really good things,” continued coach Adams. “We were able to find open shooters. We were able to find Jack inside, if they forgot about him. John was able to do his thing. We used really good judgement in taking shots. That’s so important. I tell them a lot, ‘It’s easy sitting over here.’ We talk and we coach and we tell them things and remind of things, but ultimately what happens out on the floor is under their control from what they do.”

Kingsville controlled the second quarter with contributions from four Tigers starters, including Mullins’ opening lay-up and two free throw conversions to close out the period. Sandwiched between Mullins’ four points in the frame were 11 points from Fleeman, four points from Ewing, and two points from Stout.

“After playing them last year, I just wanted to get back on them,” said Stout. “The main thing was to slow down No. 13 (Sawyer), and we really did that, especially from deep, from three, we slowed him down, didn’t allow him to get very many shots up. Obviously, he hit some late, but we really had to focus on, ‘We don’t want to lose to them twice. We want to get them this year. This is our year.’ We wanted to prove that. We came out and did that tonight.”

Fleeman’s 12 first-half points represented half of his final team-high 24 point total in the quarterfinal win.

“We approach every game like it’s going to be our last, especially this time of the year,” said Fleeman. “I mean, the main focus was get inside, play off of that. We had a good guess what they were going to do because all good teams are same strategy, same principles and all that, but really just trying to shut down No. 13. Make him put it on the ground, and from that, just live with that. As long as he’s not catch-and-shoot threes all night, we’ll live with the outcome.”

Tiger senior guard Christian Stevenson entered the scoring column to open scoring the the second half on an assist from Fleeman.

Stevenson added another two-pointer to give the Tigers a 15-point lead before a Mule free throw, a trey from Sawyer, and a lay-up by Sawyer on a steal moved Wheatland to a 34-25 deficit.

Shortly after the Mule surge, Fleeman was whistled for his fourth foul with just over five-and-a-half minutes to play in the third quarter.

Coach Adams called on sophomore guard Blake Utterback to replace Fleeman as Fleeman spent the remainder of the period on the sideline.

“We actually spread the lead back out before John came back in,” highlighted coach Adams. “Blake Utterback had a couple big rebounds and was able to play the middle. He never does that. Christian went to the boards harder. They really stepped it up when we were up against it.

“I thought Blake was really big when he came in for John because like I said, we’re a little bit undersized there, but yet he was able to hold the fort in the middle,” noted coach Adams. “Like I said, we lengthened the lead. He was a big part of that, playing defense in the middle. I was happy for him to be able to do that.”

Scoring on three-pointers from Stout and Mullins, combined with two-for-two trips to the free throw line from Stout and Stevenson moved Kingsville to a 44-33 lead late in the third quarter.

A two-point basket from Stevenson was followed by two free throws from Wheatland and a basket at the buzzer to set the score at 46-40 heading into the final frame.
“John got in foul trouble for us, and we all came together,” said Stout. “I mean, we had Blake come out for us. The rest of us, me, Christian, Gavin, and Jack, we all came together, we said, ‘Hey, John’s not in the game right now. We’ve worked on this in practice. Let’s put it together. Let’s go hold our own, and when he gets back in, we’re going to be great.’”
Fleeman would re-enter the game at the start of the fourth quarter.

“They started to kind of cut the lead,” said Fleeman. “They started to slowly chip away, chip away, chip away, and they were thinking about maybe letting me sit a little bit longer. I was like, ‘No, I can’t stay out.’ Once I got in, we pulled away to 12, 14 points.”

Fleeman put the first points of the fourth quarter on the scoreboard when he was fouled on a made basket. He converted the foul shot to put Kingsville ahead 49-40.
Wheatland answered with a two-pointer which was balanced out by a basket from Ewing.

Stevenson followed with a trey to give Kingsville a 54-42 lead with just over six minutes remaining in the game. A Mule field goal cut Kingsville’s lead to 10 points before the Tigers expanded their lead down the stretch.

“In that situation we try to stay calm,” said Stevenson. “In that situation, of course, you don’t want to think you’ve already won the game, just play, then, celebrate with your team.
“We knew it was a big stage, so we just tried to keep it calm, calm the nerves,” added Stevenson. “We lost to them last year, don’t think about last year, just calm the nerves, play your game, play like we played all year throughout the postseason, just go win again. We’re well-rounded, I would say but we also have strong suits between everybody else, so I think we all have places where we excel and we’re just a well-rounded team.”

Stevenson’s three-pointer in the fourth followed eight points from the senior guard in the third to put him at 11 total in the game.

“Christian could score more, if we needed him to, but I appreciate the fact he and Chase just want to win,” said coach Adams. “If that means they score two points, they’re happy, if they score 22 points, they’re happy. They want to win. I think Christian’s one of the best guards around. He could score more, but man, he just runs everything for us, and that’s so important.”

Fleeman and Stout dropped in field goals to put Kingsville up by 14 before a two-pointer from Sawyer put Wheatland behind by 12 near the 4:00 point of the fourth.

A two-pointer from Ewing and a trey from Mullins put the damper on a Mule comeback as Mullins’ triple put the Tigers up by 17 points.

Late scoring to hold the lead was provided by Fleeman with seven points, and two from Mullins.

The lead allowed coach Adams to send in Tiger reserve players, and allowed for the Kingsville seniors and underclass regular players the opportunity to walk off the court to the applause and cheers of the sizable Kingsville cheering section in the Clinton High School gym.

Kingsville’s final points would be put on the scoreboard by sophomore guard Tanner Ratajczyk on two made free throws.

Final scoring totals for Kingsville included Fleeman with 24 points, Ewing with 13 points, Stout and Mullins with 12 points each, Stevenson with 11, and Ratajczyk with 2 points.
Coach’s And Players’ Corner

The Kingsville Tigers entered the state quarterfinal game versus Wheatland with the opportunity to record a historic win that would put the Tigers in the state tournament semifinals as one of the final four Class 1 teams still playing.

“It was, ‘Enjoy the moment,’” said coach Adams in regard to his pregame message to

See Full Story In This Week’s Image…