ASHLAND - The No. 3 seed Fulton Hornets were unable to overcome a dismal first half in bowing to the No. 2 Southern Boone Eagles in Thursday night's 53-46 semifinal loss at the Southern Boone Classic.
Fulton (12-6) found itself down 24-14 and trailed 40-32 to open the fourth quarter. Southern Boone - ranked No. 5 in Class 3 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association - had previously defeated the Hornets 79-71 on Jan. 12 at the California Tournament.
"Basketball is a funny game," Fulton head coach Justin Gilmore said Friday night. "In the first half the last time we played, everybody was making everything. In the first half (Thursday night), nobody could make anything."
Senior forward Deangelo Walker guided the Hornets with 10 points, while senior guard Radarion Glover and junior guard Justin Adams contributed eight apiece.
Spencer Taggart topped the Eagles with a game-high 16 points. Maguire Scheer was next with 12 points and Gage Schupp had 10.
"Southern Boone is a great team - to play them this close, the guys don't have anything to hang their heads about," Gilmore said. "We didn't give up many second-chance points and we rebounded well."
Fulton played No. 4 seed Linn for third place Saturday. Results were not available at press time.