Bulldogs Season Ends in District Semifinals on a Last Second Heave
- RoMoAthletics
- Mar 6
- 4 min read
March 6th, 2026
It’s not how any team wants their season to end, but for the Rolla Bulldogs who were the #1 seed in Class 6 District 2, it was an especially bitter pill to swallow. Playing with the lead for the majority of a close and hard fought game, it was a miraculous, closely guarded, turnaround, fadeaway 3 point shot attempt as time expired that dashed the dreams of a final four run.
The senior heavy team finished their season at 22-6 with the 56 to 59 loss to Lafayette in the semifinal round of districts. This team is the only Rolla HS Boys team to have 3 consecutive 20 win seasons.
The Slow Down Low Down
Both teams jumped out of the gate in the first quarter to what looked to be the start of a potential high scoring shootout. The Bulldogs led 20 to 18 after 1 quarter with the two teams combining for 7 made 3 pointers. The flow of the game was a concern due to a question regarding the readiness of 6’4” Sr guard Ethan Brown due to dehydration from a bout with flu-like symptoms. That seemed to be answered rather quickly as he fired in 9 points in the quarter.
The second quarter was a grind on both ends of the court. The Bulldogs started the quarter with a quality fast break where the ball never touched the ground. The ball was rebounded by 6’4” Sr guard Cooper Gideon, who kicked it out to Brown, who threw it ahead to 6’1” Sr guard Landen Richter at half court who found a streaking 6’2” Sr guard Jenson Thomas for the ally oop layup. This brought the Rolla faithful to their feet in anticipation of more to come.
And then… the slow down.
Buckets were at a premium as both teams combined for 15 points. Rolla captured the largest lead of the game of 6 points on a 3 ball by Gideon with 2:45 left in the second quarter to put Rolla up 21-21. Lafayette would respond with the final 5 points of the quarter to enter halftime with Rolla leading 27 to 26.
Second Half Slugfest
The Bulldogs maintained a lead for the entire 3rd quarter until a 3 point shot by Lafayette in the final seconds tied the game at 41. With momentum from making the 3 to tie the game, the Lancers came out and knocked down another 3 to take their first lead since the score was 11-13 in the first quarter.
Throughout the rest of the quarter there would be 6 lead changes and 4 ties. Each team taking a show trying to gain an advantage but each team countering to keep it close. The game was tied at 56 for the final 2 minutes with neither team able to gain the lead. The Bulldogs had the ball with a minute left and were unable to convert on two opportunities, giving the ball to Lafayette with under 40 seconds to play.
The Bulldogs defense locked in and did not give a good look as Lafayette struggled to move the ball. In the final seconds, the Lancer guard picked up the ball along the sideline in front of the Lafayette bench. As the seconds ticked down he kept pivoting to find an open teammate with none to be found. Defensive pressure forced him to make another pivot and shoot a highly contested fadeaway that banked in off the backboard with no time left on the clock.
With an answered prayer, the Bulldogs season and career of the 8 seniors came to an end, 56-59.
Wrap Up
It was a battle of two different styles. Rolla dominated the paint outscoring Lafayette 30 to 16 in the paint shooting an impressive 60% versus Lafayette’s 42%. It was a different story from behind the arc. While the teams shot a similar 3 point percentage (43% for Rolla and 45% for Lafayette), it was the volume that separated the two teams. Lafayette heaved up 29 attempts from deep versus 14 for Rolla. Lafayette hit 13 3’s versus the 6 for Rolla.
Because of the amount of 3’s Lafayette shot, they were able to secure 7 offensive rebounds versus only 3 for the Bulldogs. Gritty defense by the Lancers led to them getting 7 steals versus only 3 for Rolla as well as limiting momentum opportunities from getting out and running.
The pace of the game favored the Lancers as the Bulldogs were only able to get 11 transition points in the low scoring affair. The Lancers prefer a slow game, with plenty of ball movement and screens to open up the 3 point shot.
Brown finished with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Thomas went 4 for 4 from the field for 9 points. Richer and 6’8” Sr forward Paxton Ledbetter each had 8 points while Gideon had 7 points.
Next Up
Be on the lookout for the Inside the Huddle recap of the season and we take a peak at next season's new look Bulldogs. Brown and Ledbetter will be continuing their basketball careers in college. Thomas and Richter will be heading into spring baseball with the Bulldogs before heading to college for baseball. 6’4” Easton Smith will be working out preparing for his collegiate football career.
STATS Rolla 56, Lafayette 59
The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):
Rolla (22-6): Thomas 4-0-9, Richter 2-2-8, Gideon 3-0-7, Ledbetter 3-2-8, Brown 8-2-19, Smith 1-0-2, N. Robinson 1-0-3
Lafayette (17-9): Micek 7-0-19, Rolwing 1-0-3, Pickering 4-1-10, Myers 2-0-5, Watson 7-3-22
The score by periods:
TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 F
Rolla 20 7 14 15 56
Lafayette 18 8 15 18 59
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