Southwest wins first district title in 57 years
By Kyle Troutman ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com
“Belief creates vision; belief creates strength of will; belief creates resilience; and belief ignites and activates.”
The Southwest boys basketball team (21-7) rode that wave of belief to a historic moment on Friday, upsetting Stockton 56-42 in the Class 3, District 12 championship in Diamond — the first for the team in 57 years.
Building a second-half lead that allowed the Trojans to sub out their seniors to celebrations and cheers from fans, the atmosphere after the final buzzer left Coach Rusty Roe shellshocked.
“I don’t know if I can describe it,” he said. “I felt both teams didn’t get what they wanted in the first half, and in the second half, we were fortunate to have our seniors that have been in these moments we haven’t played like we wanted and to step up. That’s not something new to tonight, but it was new to this ballgame.”
Senior Brendyn Paulsen, who scored 15 for the Trojans, said the aftermath of the win was something he won’t forget.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “We haven’t done this in 57 years, and everyone is here. It was electric all night, and to close it out like that was great.”
The No. 3-ranked Trojans fell behind early against the No. 1 Tigers, down 12-6 after one quarter of trying to handle Sparta’s 6-5 center. Down 17-10 then 21-13 in the second quarter, a moment of belief created a spark.
In the last seconds of the second quarter, Paulsen worked his way inside for a basket, then dropped a 3-pointer to thin the lead to one possession at halftime.
“It was great to finish the half like that because we were struggling,” he said. “I don’t know if we even had 10 points yet. To go on that 5-0 run myself, that was a spark in the locker room at halftime. Everyone was talking about it.”
“That run very much helped our confidence,” Roe said. “We needed something to go into halftime, and we weren’t hot from the outside or getting the shot selection we wanted. They always say defense wins championships, but the bull has got to use his horns sometimes.”
Where the Trojans struggled in the first half to find a way inside and get outside shots to fall, they excelled in the second half.
“We knew what we needed to do, and we weren’t nervous anymore,” Brendyn Paulsen said. “We were ready to get going.”
Senior Zak Corwin found his footing, sinking a pair of 3-pointers in the third, the first of which tied the game and the second gave Southwest its first lead at 29-28. He added 11 in the fourth to finish with a team-leading 17 points. After a back-and-forth third, Stockton’s closest scoreline was down by a score, 40-38. But, Corwin again pushed the Trojans ahead, driving the lane hard and getting the foul and basket, which he converted.
Senior Lucas Paulsen put up 16 in the game, some of which came in the tug-of-war for the lead in the third quarter. The Southwest Tournament MVP hit a pair of free throws and converted a 3-point play in the third, and he added two more free throws and two field goals in the final frame.
Sophomore Kasen Holder scored 5 in the game, junior Charlie Pippin had 2 and senior Brandon Brooks scored 1. Southwest was 13-of-16 from the line as a team, with Corwin and Lucas Paulsen shooting lights out, making all five and seven charity stripe tosses, respectively.
Roe said though the start of the game was tense, he had faith in the Trojans to turn the tables.
“This is a district championship and the first we’ve played in, so we had to get some nerves out,” he said. “They punched us in the mouth pretty good at the start, but we bounced back, stayed the course and did what we knew we could do.”
The title is the first since 1966, and though the possibility of witnessing history may have enticed more fans to make the trip, that’s not how the Trojans’ followers work. A student section of more than 60 and a fan section nearing 200 kept the building raucous all evening.
“There are groups of people that have been dying to see this, and I’m just grateful for the blessing the Lord has given me to be here and share this with the community,” Roe said. “That number of fans is not new either. Had it been the first time they showed up like that tonight, it might have freaked us out. The community has been behind this team since day No. 1, and that makes a difference.”
Brendyn Paulsen said the fans provide more than just support.
“They mean everything to us,” he said. “They have supported us all season, and we are fueled by them through the ups and downs. We [seniors have] also been playing together since we were 5 or 6 years old, so to ride it all the way out and achieve what we worked for, it’s very emotional and exciting at the same time.”
According to Roe, exciting and emotional moments on the floor are a product of an off-the-floor action. At the beginning of the year, he gave his players copies of an article titled “The Power of Belief,” written by Tim Knight, founder and CEO of Focus 3, an Ohio-based advisory firm.
The article details four things belief can do: create vision, create strength of will, create resilience and ignite and activate. Roe said his squad took the words to heart.
“Before the game, I walked into the locker room and Lucas had started leading them in reading our letter of belief,” Roe said. “To have a group of guys that do that on their own, buying in that big, makes you look smart as a coach.”
In the district tournament, Southwest defeated No. 6 Diamond, 62-45, on Feb. 20, and No. 2 Lamar, 72-69, on Feb. 22.
On Monday, the Trojans traveled to Carthage to face Sparta in the Class 3 round of 16.
