Skip to content

Warriors Claim Districts Again

By michael boyd jr.

mboydjr@stegenherald.com

CRYSTAL CITY    Clayton Drury received the pass in the left corner, then drove the baseline to place what ended up being the district-winning jumper that brought his teammates and the Valle Catholic fanbase to an estatic celebration Saturday night.

Drury’s shot with 37.3 seconds left in the game put the top-seeded Warriors up for good against second-seeded New Haven after a seesaw matchup that had 15 total lead changes. 

Senior Aiden Heberlie then hit two clutch free throws with 7.3 seconds remaining to seal the championship, 52-49, of the MSHSAA Class 2 District 4 boys’ basketball tournament at CCHS’s Arvel B. Popp Gymnasium.

But the traditional state-powerhouse Shamrocks (14-14) were not going down without a fight as they launched two 3-point attempts, including one at the buzzer that rimmed out.

The Warriors (16-10) all jumped in the air with celebration on the court. It was their second straight district title and third in the last four seasons.

The game was close — the entire way as the largest lead was four points    twice by New Haven in the fourth quarter    keeping both proud fan bases on the edge of their seats throughout with plenty to say, good or not-so-good. Tempers flared on the court a few times as well from the physicality of play, but no major fouls were called. Every change in leads happened after the first quarter.

The Warriors led 12-8 after one quarter, 24-22 at halftime, 37-36 heading into the final frame and almost went to overtime. However, they were just 14 of 24 from the foul line.

Valle now advances to the Class 2 sectional at Jackson High to face the Bernie Mules (26-1) at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, March 2. The only way to purchase the $7 sectional tickets is online at MSHSAA.org. 

The Mules are from a deeper part of southeast Missouri that plays the uptempo pace of hoops notorious with that region. They have won 17 straight games, including the District 3 title last Friday as the top seed over second-seeded Advance Hornets, 65-36.

C. Drury finished with six points, including a 3-pointer. Heberlie scored a game-high 16 points, while Chase Fallert and Harry Oliver both added nine points. Sam Drury had eight points. The Warriors 

Heberlie and Fallert both were selected to the C2D4 all-district tournament boys’ team.