The Mountain Home High School boys’ basketball team is one win away from a district title, after its game Tuesday at Vilonia went down to the wire. Matt Sharp has the details.
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A crucial jumper by Wyatt Gilbert gave the Bombers a 45-44 victory over the Eagles in the semifinals of the 5A-West District Tournament. The game was back and forth early on with seven lead changes and two ties, but Mountain Home was able to build a 10-point lead late in the first half. The Bombers were held mainly quiet in the second half. In fact, Mountain Home was held scoreless in the final quarter, until the last minute. Vilonia took advantage and got the lead back, when Kannon Bartlett hit both ends of a one-and-one. On the Bombers’ next possession, Gilbert was able to dribble the ball to the right corner and hit his jumper to put Mountain Home back on top inside the game’s final 30 seconds. Grant Middleton attempted a jumper to give the Eagles the lead back, but it came up short, and Vilonia was called for a foul with 3/10 of a second left after both teams were scrambling for the ball. To make sure the Eagles didn’t have a chance for a steal and a shot, Dawson Tabor threw a baseball-style inbound pass into the frontcourt. It was stolen by Austin Myers, but he didn’t have enough time to get a shot off before the clock hit zero.
Jake McGehee led the Bombers with 17 points, and Gilbert added 14. For Vilonia, Myers scored 14 points.
The Eagles fall to 16-6 and will host Siloam Springs Thursday in the third-place game. Mountain Home improves to 10-12 and will play in the district championship game at Russellville Thursday at 7 p.m.
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