EDINBURGH – In its first meeting with Morristown this season, Waldron built a 12-point halftime lead but struggled to finish only to survive at the final buzzer and escape with the Mid-Hoosier Conference win.

On Wednesday in the second quarterfinal game of the Class A, Sectional 60 tournament at Edinburgh High School, Waldron again gained a double-digit lead by halftime on the pesky Yellow Jackets. This time, the Mohawks better handled a third-quarter charge and shut down any thoughts of a come-from-behind victory.

Lucas Shaw and Max Jones combined for 31 points to get Waldron a 58-39 win and a spot in Friday’s semifinals where it will face Jac-Cen-Del (15-9).

 “We may have gotten a little too comfortable there,” said Waldron head coach Beau Scott of the Morristown rally. “I thought we did a good job of not really losing control of the pace and scoring a couple of timely buckets to keep them at bay.”

A Max Jones score in the lane opened the second-half scoring and upped Waldron’s lead to 26-5. The Yellow Jackets responded with a 10-4 run to cut the lead to 30-15.

“I am incredibly proud of the fight our guys had in the second half,” said Morristown head coach Cory Kreiger. “We scored 15 points in the third quarter and 19 in the fourth quarter. It’s just unfortunate we couldn’t get it going a little bit earlier and rise to the occasion.”

Jones had nine of his 15 points in the quarter and immediately halted Morristown’s momentum with a made free throw and another score in the lane. The Yellow Jackets never got closer than 17 points the rest of the way.

“I think our best games of the year are when we are balanced and when the ball is moving,” said Scott. “I thought Max played awesome. He was flying around and getting offensive rebounds. His energy was great.”

Jameson Palmer led Morristown (1-22) with 17 points. Cade Mahin finished with 13 points – all in the second half. Colin Kieninger had four points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Palmer, Chase Theobald and Kamdyn Gaines proved to be strong leaders within the program for a first-year coach.

“We are going to miss Jameson, Chase and Kam, our three seniors. They have done a great job this year and done everything I could have asked of them as far as a leadership stand point and showing up to work every day despite not having the year we all anticipated,” said Kreiger.”

Lucas Mitchell, Waldron’s leading scorer at 20.5 ppg, stayed within the framework of the Mohawks’ game plan and finished with 10 points, six rebounds, four steals and five blocks.

Waldron (12-11) shot 47% from the field (23 of 49) and hit 9 of 12 free throws.

Morristown was 14 of 35 (40%) from the field but struggled at the free-throw line, hitting just 7 of 18 (39%).

The first semifinal game Friday at Edinburgh features South Decatur (13-11) and Oldenburg Academy (6-15).

Waldron 58, Morristown 39

MT – Palmer 5-10 3-6 17, Rinzel 1-1 3-4 5, Theobald 0-3 0-0 0, Hawk 0-4 0-0 0, Kieninger 2-6 0-2 4, Mahin 6-9 1-4 13, Gaines 0-1 0-2 0, McMichael 0-0 0-0 0, Merritt 0-0 0-0 0, Snyder 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 14-35 7-18 39.

WA – Mitchell 4-8 1-1 10, Yarling 2-10 1-2 5, Shaw 7-11 2-3 16, M. Jones 5-7 5-6 15, Settles 2-7 0-0 5, Miller 1-1 0-0 2, Bennett 1-4 0-0 2, Lindsay 0-1 0-0 0, S. Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Larrison 0-0 0-0 0, Douglas 1-1 0-0 3, Adkins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-49 9-12 58.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MT (1-22)       5    0   15  19  --  39

WA (12-11)  12  12  18  16  --  58

Three-point field goals: MT 4-11 (Palmer 4-6, Hawk 0-4, Snyder 0-1), WA 3-11 (Mitchell 1-2, Yarling 0-3, Shaw 0-1, M. Jones 0-1, Settles 1-2, Bennett 0-1, Douglas 1-1). Rebounds: MT 21 (Palmer 4, Rinzel 1, Hawk 1, Kieninger 9, Mahin 4, Gaines 2), WA 23 (Mitchell 6, Yarling 1, Shaw 2, M. Jones 5, Settles 4, Bennett 2, Lindsay 2, Douglas 1). Assists: MT 6 (Rinzel 3, Theobald 1, Hawk 1, Kieninger 1), WA 12 (Mitchell 1, Yarling 5, Shaw 3, M. Jones 1, Miller 1, Lindsay 1). Steals: MT 4 (Palmer 1, Theobald 1, Hawk 1, Mahin 1), WA 9 (Mitchell 4, Yarling 4, Shaw 1). Blocks: MT 3 (Kieninger 2, Mahin 1), WA 5 (Mitchell 5). Total fouls: MT 18, WA 11. Turnovers: MT 11, WA 16.

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