Owen Nesslage's long-range shot lifts Kirkwood past MICDS in tournament nailbiter

By Warren Mayes, Special to the Post-Dispatch

LADUE — Kirkwood senior Owen Nesslage is used to making big plays on the football field.

The 6-foot-6 quarterback led the Pioneers to a 10-3 season that included an appearance in the Class 6 state semifinals. He finished his season with 3,991 yards passing. He threw for a whopping 39 touchdown passes.

In the championship bracket quarterfinal game of the Don Maurer Holiday Invitational for boys at MICDS on Thursday evening, Nesslage showed he can play basketball, too.

Nesslage hit the game-winning basket from well beyond the arc with 3 seconds showing to lift Kirkwood to a heartstopping 70-68 victory over the host MICDS Rams.

“This feels great,” Nesslage said. “It’s a great team win for us.”

Pioneers coach Nelson Taylor was still trying to catch his breath after the back-and-forth battle with the host Rams.

“That was a great game,” Taylor said. “It was great competition. We played just about a complete game as we could. The boys responded after getting down early. We had guys coming in off the bench and contributed which is what we need. Defensively, we did what we do.”

Rams coach Travis Wallace agreed.

“It was a great game,” Wallace said. “I thought they played really good. They shot the ball really well. They had guys make big plays. It was a game of runs and they got the ball for the last time.”

Leading scorers

Senior Evan Simon led Kirkwood with a season-high 28 points. Senior Larry Robinson added 18 points. Nesslage scored eight points.

MICDS junior Brandon Clemens led all scorers with 31 points.

“That’s Brandon for you,” Wallace said. “He’s played so well for us since he was a freshman. I thought he shot the ball really well tonight. He guarded well. He just came up short there at the end.”

Senior Karim Fall scored 14 points. Junior Jason Stokes contributed 10 points.

Game-winning basket

Taylor credited Simon and Nesslage with the play that led to the game-winning shot.

“We had a timeout and about 36 seconds left on the clock,” Taylor said. “The two of them came up with a pick and pop option. It’s a good combination these two got. They’ve got to honor Simon’s shot and honor Owen’s as well.”

Taylor didn’t mind Nesslage getting the shot at the end.

“(I’ve got) all the confidence in the world in him,” Taylor said. “He can shoot it anytime he wants to.”

Nesslage gave the credit to Simon.

“He came up with the play in the huddle,” Nesslage said. “It was just him drawing up a simple pick and pop play. It was a good pass. Credit to him.”

After getting the pass, Nesslage did not hesitate. He gunned the shot that put his team on top.

“All my teammates have confidence in me and that instills confidence in me to shoot that shot,” Nesslage said.

Simon said MICDS was doing a good job stopping the pick and roll. So he called for something different.

“I said let’s run this pick and pop. I knew they’d double up on me and I know (Nesslage) would knock it down,” Simon said.

For Wallace, it came down to who had the ball at the end.

“We’re normally a good defensive team,” Wallace said. “We couldn’t get any stops there at the end. That hurt. We’ve got a lot of season left to play.”

Big turnover

After Nesslage made his big bucket, reserve junior Jacob Whitson pilfered a pass by Clemens.

“Huge credit to him coming off the bench and doing what he did,” Simon said. “There was no letdown. Keep that same energy coming off the bench as you do when you start the game. Your worth is the same. That’s what we look for and he got it done.”

MICDS fouled as it had one to give.

Then Simon was fouled. With just three seconds remaining, he hit one of three free throws for the final margin.

Tighter than bark on tree

The teams were evenly matched.

It was deadlocked 30-30 at halftime.

In the second half, there were 10 ties. There were also seven lead changes.

“The lead changed a bunch of times and there were a lot of ties,” Taylor said. “It was an intense game. I like them like that. It gets my mind fired up to make sure I’m coaching in all aspects of the game.

“The boys know two of my favorite words — resilience and ambition. We showed that tonight. We stayed with it no matter what happened.”

Wallace enjoyed the close contest.

“It was exciting,” Wallace said. “It brings your blood pressure up. For us being in a game like this, hopefully it helps us out down the line.”

Third quarter runs

With the score tied at 40-40, Clemens canned a 3-pointer. Stokes followed with two free throws when he was fouled and then he hit a layup to complete a 7-0 run for a 47-40 lead with 1:29 showing.

Kirkwood called a timeout.

The Pioneers forged back with an 8-0 run to take a 48-47 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Junior Trevor Koll connected from long distance and then Robinson added two free throws. Simon swished a 3-pointer with 1 second showing to put Kirkwood back on top.

First quarter

The host Rams jumped out to a 21-16 lead after the first eight minutes.

MICDS nailed five 3-point field goals in the early going. Fall led the way with nine points.

Second quarter

Simon lit up the nets like a Christmas tree in the second quarter for the Pioneers.

Kirkwood outscored MICDS 14-9 to forge a 30-30 tie heading into intermission.

Simon scored 11 of the Pioneers’ 14 points. He hit three 3-point field goals along with a regular field goal.

Records

MICDS fell to 5-3.

Kirkwood improved to 4-1.

How teams got here

MICDS: Defeated Duchesne 63-27 in the first round to reach quarterfinals.

Kirkwood: Beat Maplewood 72-36 in the first round to reach quarterfinals.

Series history

The teams had met each other twice before. Both games were played in this tournament. Kirkwood lost 54-38 on Dec. 29, 2020, when it was a four-team round-robin tournament. The Pioneers scored a 52-44 win over the hosts Rams in the tournament championship game on Dec. 30, 2022, in their last matchup.