Bayless Knocks Out Tourney Host, Claims District Title

The banners hanging in the gymnasium at Crystal City High School said it all. The history of district championships and state finals appearances made it clear that the Hornets had the ghosts of the past on their side, as well as a 1,000 or so of their fans.

But when the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Bayless Bronchos (22-6) proved that it was their time to shine as they defeated the Hornets, 60-52, in the championship game of the Class 3 District 4 tournament.

“When the season started, I knew that we would be decent,” Bayless head coach Pat Triplett said. “I knew that we would be a lot better than last year, but I didn’t know that we would be this good.”

The win for Bayless puts them into the Class 3 sectional game this Wednesday evening at Jefferson College in Hillsboro as the Bronchos take on Saxony Lutheran at 6:00 p.m.

“They (Crystal City) didn’t shoot as well as they did against St. Pius and that helped us out,” Triplett said. “People kept talking about Bayless and Pius, but nobody looked at Crystal City, but Crystal City’s pretty good. Those boys can play.”

Bayless guard Enis Mehmedovic led all scorers with 23 points. Mehmedovic is currently averaging 15.5 points per game this season.

“I didn’t know Enis had gone for 23 points, but that’s great,” Triplett said. “When the game is tight, I’m worried about what I’m going to do next.”

When Bayless lost its lead during the fourth quarter, the crowd began to bear down on the Bronchos. But that didn’t seem to rattle Mehmedovic and his teammates as he nailed down a critical 3-pointer to give the Bronchos a 54-52 lead with just over two minutes to play in the game.

“I’ve never seen a team this focused,” Mehmedovic said. “I had confidence the whole time that we were going to win the game. Even when they (Crystal City) took the lead in the fourth quarter, we weren’t really too concerned. I knew that we were going to step up and make some plays, and we did.”

The loss for Crystal City (22-5) broke a four-game winning streak for the Hornets.

“Bayless is good, and I think that they have a good chance to play awhile,” Crystal City head coach Sean Breeze said. “I thought that our kids battled great, but we just didn’t have those key shots go in for us.”

Crystal City’s Eli Sample led the Hornets with 18 points. Sample finished the season averaging 22.5 points per game.

“Eli’s pretty consistent,” Breese said. “I think he’s the fourth-leading scorer in the St. Louis area and is very difficult to guard. I thought that Bayless did a good job at keeping him off-balance a little bit. But he did have 18 points.”