After losing to South Iron 75-40 on Friday and to St. Elizabeth 57-44 on Saturday, the  Higbee boys basketball team was disappointed with its first-ever trip to the MSHSAA Show-Me Showdown. The disappointment, though stinging, would be short-lived. The Tigers and their coaches would soon allow the realization of what they had done and what the future of Higbee basketball looks like sink in.

Losing only senior Keetun Redifer and his 13.9 points per game to graduation, coach Tanner Burton will be able to utilize two of his top three scorers from the 2020-21 season for the next three years. Both Derek Rockett and Jordan Fuemmeler each average more than 16 points per game. The two freshmen look to lead the team through the 2023-24 season.

Hopes were high Thursday morning as Higbee sent their team off to the showdown.

The Tigers, however, had drawn the eventual state champion South Iron Panthers as their semifinal opponent, a team coach Burton felt might have been a contender in even the Class 3 tournament.

The Panthers got off to an early lead by beginning the game with a 9-0 run and almost doubling Higbee’s output in the first quarter, 19-10. In the second quarter, it was more of the same as South Iron added 28 while the Tigers could only manage nine. The Tigers, however, continued to show fight coming out of the locker room at the half to score 14 in the third while holding South Iron to 18. The final stanza showed Higbee never giving up as the they held the Panthers to 10 while scoring seven. 

The second half seemed to be a different ballgame than the first as Higbee was able to hold South Iron to only 28 points. But the 47 scored by the Panthers in the first half to build a 28-point lead was too much of a deficit to overcome.

Redifer paced the Tigers with 12 points in the game followed by Fuemmeler and junior Jamie Smith with nine apiece. Rockett added seven points while sophomore Chad Crawford contributed two and classmate Chevy Grimsley scored one to round out the scoring for Higbee.

The Tigers were able to hold South Iron to 5.1 fewer points less than their season average of 80.1 per game. 

The outcome of the game Friday put South Iron in the championship game and placed Higbee in the battle for third.

Originally scheduled for a noon start, the third-place game at the Hammons Student Center was delayed an hour as the roof had leaked onto the floor due to the overnight rains.

The delay did not seem to hamper the Saint Elizabeth Hornets as they jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first quarter of Saturday’s game before ending the first quarter with a 14-4 lead.

The Tigers came out of the huddle between quarters with a new determination and focus and reeled off six straight points to take the score to14-10 in favor of the Hornets. St. Elizabeth, however, was undeterred and fought back to win the quarter 23-18 to take a 37-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Going into the third quarter, the Tigers knew they needed to put forth an effort they had become known for by flexing their defensive muscles to get back into the game. They came out strong, scoring 13 points while only giving up six making the deficit only eight going into the final act. 

In the fourth, the Tigers were able to come to within five before the Hornets pulled away with the 57-44 win, securing the third-place trophy.

In his final game as a Tiger, senior Keetun Redifer along with freshman Jordan Fuemmeler each put in 14 points as freshman Derek Rockett added 12 and junior Jamie Smith put in four hard-fought points from the paint.

“I’m glad we didn’t give up in the second half. I would have liked for it to have been a little closer or finish with a win,” Redifer said following the loss. “We got fourth place in the state and we made it past districts for the first time in our school’s history.”

Redifer hopes to continue with his basketball career in college but acknowledges coming from a small town that might be difficult. “This sure helps though,” Redifer said, referring to the Showdown berth.

“This team’s future is going to be bright,” Redifer said as he listed some of the team’s accomplishments and looked to the future. “Chad Crawford took some charges tonight. Last time we checked he was second or third in the state. Derek (Rockett) and Jordan (Fuemmeler), both freshmen always play hard. I’m proud of them, their future is going to be bright. Luke Ritter always hustles. Jamie Smith is going to have a good senior year next year. The rest of them just got to work.”

Coach Tanner Burton held those same sentiments. “Obviously, we’ll miss Keetun, but we’ve got some good quality kids that are ready to step up and make an impact and that’s going to be a positive thing. We’ve got kids that got into districts and started to ask how they could improve. That’s really powerful.”

Undaunted by the fourth-place finish, the town of Higbee turned out in full force on Sunday to celebrate their team. As the team arrived at the Woodsman Distillery Event Center, they were greeted by a standing ovation from family, friends, and townspeople. Coach Burton was introduced and spoke about his team and their accomplishments.

“It was kind of a trend the last four games, that we would get off to a sluggish start, and we got sloppy with the ball early,” said  Burton. “We had 16 turnovers in the first half against St. Elizabeth and only had four in the second, so we fixed that piece and ultimately couldn’t get enough shots to fall. We had opportunities and fought back then let it slip away in the end.

“You know, we made history, not necessarily the history we planned on making, but it’s still something that had never been done,” said Burton. “It’s something the community can really be proud of.”

“I think this team is capable of winning 20 games next year,,” said Burton. “When you see this group of kids as they advanced into the season they realized their individual roles, and owned those roles and did it better and better  as we got along and they were able to stay in their lane. If they can all just be really good at what their good at they can be really special going forward”