BERNIE -- Armani Vermillion provided the heroics, and the top-ranked Advance Hornets escaped Bernie High School with an overtime win Friday night.
Vermillion sank a 3-pointer just inside the half-court line to force overtime, and the Hornets beat Bernie 59-55 to solidify their hold on first place in the Stoddard County Activities Association.
"Armani made that last shot. You've got to have some breaks and some luck. We got some luck," Advance coach Bubba Wheetley said. "I told them after that when we went into overtime, I think it's our night (when) you make a shot like that."
The Mules took a 48-47 lead with 1:08 left in regulation on Michael Suiter's putback.
Advance's Braiden Brown twice missed 3-pointers in the final 35 seconds. Skyler Schwent rebounded Brown's second miss, and Nate Dillinger was fouled with 3.4 seconds remaining. Dillinger made both free throws to seemingly secure the win.
After Bernie knocked the ball out of bounds near midcourt with 2.1 seconds remaining, Vermillion took the inbounds pass and tied the scored as time expired.
"Sometimes those things happen," Bernie coach Brad Botsch said. "You feel pretty good with 2 seconds left. The kid throws up a half-court shot. You feel pretty good about your chances, but it happened to go in.
"We just have to find a way in overtime to get it done. We didn't and they did."
Schwent's free throw gave the Mules a 51-50 lead 1:04 into overtime, but Carson Miles drove the baseline for a basket and a 52-51 Advance advantage.
Dillinger's jumper with 1:40 to play put the Mules ahead 53-52, but Advance scored the next seven points to lock up the victory.
Miles' three-point play put the Hornets ahead to stay with 1:20 remaining. Vermillion scored on a fast-break pass from Michael Hood, and Hood made two free throws with 14.6 seconds left to secure the win.
Hood finished with a game-high 25 points. Vermillion finished with 16, all after halftime.
Vermillion, an all-stater last season, didn't score a point until he made a jumper with 6:14 remaining in the third quarter.
"He missed a lot of easy shots," Wheetley said. "He got in close to the rim. They didn't go in. His free throws (He went one for four) -- I think he's thinking a little too much right now."
Miles (12 points) joined Hood and Vermillion in double figures for the Hornets.
Suiter paced Bernie with 21 points. Dillinger totaled 18 and Blake Harty had 13.
The Hornets improved to 10-3 overall and 4-0 in the SCAA. Bernie fell to 11-3 and 2-1. Besides Advance, Dexter is the only other conference team without a loss in league play.
The Mules led by as many as eight points in the first half, as Advance struggled offensively against their zone defense.
"We felt we had to play mostly zone against these guys because the match-ups weren't good for us in man-to-man situations with their guard play and personnel," Botsch said. "Plus, our bench isn't very deep so if we got into foul trouble, that would be a problem for us."
Wheatley said, "I think we played a little scared on offense the first half. We didn't move the ball. We wouldn't cut. We tried to run some stuff. It didn't work. We had a lot of open looks. We just couldn't shoot. We couldn't put it in the hole."
Despite their struggles on offense, the Hornets built a 14-7 lead in the first quarter behind a 7-0 spurt fueled by Bernie turnovers. Hood's jumper following a feed from Vermillion broke a 7-all tie. Hood turned his steal into a quick layup for an 11-7 lead, and Miles stole the ensuing inbounds pass, drew a foul and converted a three-point play.
In all, the Hornets scored seven of their 14 first-quarter points off turnovers and led 14-10 after one quarter.
The Mules committed 24 total turnovers compared to only 11 for Advance.
"The entire story of the game was turnovers," Botsch said. "When you turn the ball over as many times as we did -- they shot the ball 17 more times -- you really don't deserve to win. ... We threw the ball away so many times and gave them so many extra chances. It really shouldn't have been a game at the end."
The Mules pulled ahead 25-17 late in the second quarter, as they continually attacked the basket with Suiter being the beneficiary. He scored 10 second-quarter points, and Bernie led 25-21 at halftime.
Advance returned from the locker room with a lot of energy and stormed ahead by as many as seven points in the third quarter behind a pair of 3-pointers by Hood and seven points by Vermillion.
"Second half, we came out with a lot of intensity and got back ahead," Wheetley said. "I think we did everything better."
The Mules stayed close thanks to two 3-pointers by Harty and one by Dillinger.
After Miles' dunk gave the Hornets a 38-31 lead, Dillinger made a 3, Harty scored a layup on a fast break and Dillinger made a jumper to tie the score at 38 with 2:20 to go in the third.
Miles finished on a pass from Vermillion to give the Hornets a 40-38 lead after three quarters.
Neither team led by more than four points in the fourth quarter.