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Hartville advances to state semifinals, ending Greenwood's season and Mohammed's career

Special to the News-Leader

The most famous heavyweight fights are the bouts between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. But in southwest Missouri high school basketball terms, it’s pronounced Greenwood vs. Hartville.

For the third consecutive time, the state playoff bracket cruelly paired the Bluejays and Eagles — the top-ranked teams in Class 3 — against one another prior to the tournament’s Final Four. Once again, the grueling physical brawl lived up to the billing.

Brady Ward was deadly beyond the arc and Hartville rallied in the fourth quarter to stun Greenwood, 36-33, on Friday night in the Class 3 quarterfinals and end the Bluejays’ season for the second-straight year.