MOBERLY (Mo.) - The Duchesne High basketball team left Moberly Area Community College with its collective head held high Wednesday night. The Pioneers gave heavily favored Mexico a battle before dropping a 44-43 decision in a Class 4 sectional contest at the Activities Center.
Mexico, 26-1 and ranked fourth in the state, will face Soldan (21-6) in a quarterfinal game Saturday at 1 p.m. at Robert F. Hyland Arena on the Lindenwood University campus. Soldan, ranked second, beat Clayton 77-60 in another sectional game Wednesday.
Unranked Duchesne, which reached the Sweet Sixteen for only the second time 31 years, ends the season 15-12.
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Mexico junior Austin Reed hit one of two foul shots with 4.6 seconds left to break a 43-43 tie. The Pioneers were unable to get off a good shot before the buzzer. Duchesne freshman Drew Moore scored a team-high 16 points and Trevor Tune added 14 points.
Reed led Mexico, which won the state title in 1995, with 14 points. Dillon Schoemaker added 12 points.
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The Pioneers took a 41-40 lead on a jumper by Jake Woltering with 1:49 left. Mexico answered with a basket from Marcus Bush and a free throw to go up 43-41. Tune then hit two foul shots for the Pioneers with 37 seconds left to tie the contest and set the stage for Reed's nerve-wracking game-winning free throw.
"They're going to give me a heart attack at an early age," Mexico coach Brennan Scanlon told reporters after the contest.
Duchesne, which won the Gateway Athletic Conference North Division title, controlled play throughout most of the first half and built up a pair of eight-point leads. Moore hit two foul shots to put his team up 19-11 at the outset of the second period. Minutes later, he added two more free throws to push the advantage to 23-15.
Mexico closed the half on a 6-0 run to climb to within 23-21 heading into the break.
The Bulldogs went on a 9-4 blitz at the outset of the third quarter to take their biggest lead of night 30-27. Duchesne battled back on an old-fashioned 3-point by Tune to go up 34-32 heading into the final period.
Bush scored for Mexico 33 seconds into the fourth quarter. Neither team held more than a three-point lead the rest of the way.