ROLLA, Mo. — Rogers High coach Marty Barnes has said on more than one occasion this season that the Mounties bench was a team strength.
That theory was put to the test Tuesday night.
With four starters in foul trouble at different times, Rogers got key contributions from Casey Caton, Branden Gentz and Grant Washburn as the Mounties defeated Warrensburg, Mo., 44-35 in the semifinals at the 2009 U.S. Bank-Rolla High Holiday Invitational Tournament.
Rogers (11-1) has won seven straight and will face either Rolla or Francis Howell in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. today.
The trip to tonight’s championship game will be the fourth time the Mounties have played for the title in five trips to the tournament. Rogers won the tournament in 2005 and 2007.
Josh Anderson picked up two early fouls but finished with 13 points and four steals while logging just 15 minutes of playing time. Junior starter Graham Parker was also in foul trouble but scored all 10 of his points after halftime.
Rogers led 27-26 going to the fourth period but hit 10-of-14 free throws in the final 3 minutes, 27 seconds. Gentz hit three free throws late in the game while Caton finished with seven points.
“This is going to help us when we get to conference,” Barnes said. “We played some people we are going to have to play when conference begins. I thought Branden Gentz did a heck of a job at point guard. (Starting point guard) Wyatt Hively spent most of the night on the bench in foul trouble.”
Rogers led 17-15 at halftime but trailed 23-20 midway through the third period after a steal and layup by Kortez Woolen.
But Parker drained a 3-pointer for his first points of the night and his stickback gave Rogers a 27-23 lead late in the third. Parker then keyed a 7-1 spurt to start the final period with another 3-pointer as the Mounties pulled away.
Warrensburg made just 12-of-39 field goal attempts in the game and the Tigers were 3 of 10 from the free throw line in the final eight minutes of the game.
“We didn’t shoot it very well, but credit (Rogers),” said Warrensburg coach Chris Nimmo. “Rogers’ size across the board bothered us. Rogers is a very solid ballclub and I know they will have a very good year. We just didn’t shot it very well tonight and their defense was a little bit better.”
Rogers missed its first six shots and Tyler Schmidt scored five straight points for Warrensburg as the Tigers took a 7-0 lead. But Anderson keyed a 10-0 run with three layups to give the Mounties a 10-7 lead early in the second period.
Schmidt gave the Tigers an 11-10 lead with two free throws but a three-point play by Nathan Musso and a late bucket by Caton gave Rogers a 17-15 halftime lead.