How the teacher of experience has Tolton playing some of its best basketball at the right time

Tolton delivered the first blow against Booneville and didn’t let its foot off the gas in a 67-28 win over the Pirates at Southern Boone High School in Ashland, Mo. The victory gave the Trailblazers the Class 4, District 9 championship. It is the fourth consecutive district crown.

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The Trailblazers decisive 39-point victory on Saturday or its 30-point win against California on Feb. 29 didn’t necessarily mirror the type of regular season the Trailblazers had for the 2023-24 campaign.

Jeremy Osborne’s squad played a challenging regular season schedule featuring a total of 13 20-win teams. It defeated seven of those squads, including 6A programs Battle, Hickman, and Oak Park High School, but with some great wins, also came some defeats.

“I was really proud of the fact that they stuck together even when, you know throughout the season, we had some tough losses,” Osborne said. “We’re always one or two possessions away, so to see those guys fight through that it pays off in the end.”

But through the adversity of losses to talented programs around the state, it served as a great tool to help Tolton peak at the right time of the year.

“There’s no better teacher than experience. So our guys have been put in a ton of different situations and circumstances throughout this year,” Osborne said. “There’s nothing that we haven’t seen. And so when you give them that experience against high-level competitions, its only job is to pay off…This is a special ground, a very tight-knit group, and they are dedicated to each other.”

Their connectivity showed up against Booneville on Saturday. Tolton got out to leads of 17-6 at the end of the first quarter and 36-12 at the half against the Pirates, forcing the No. 3 seed to play faster than they were accustomed to and wanted to.

The effort was in part of a strong effort led by Blake Pingeton and Zay Wilson. Pingeton tallied a team-high 15 points to go along with four 3-pointers helping the Trailblazers build a monstrous lead. Pingeton is one player who has made the most of his opportunities this season as a team captain.

“I think I’ve become a lot more mature, a lot more confident from last year. Last year, I came off the bench as a sixth man,” Pingeton said. “I just didn’t quite get as many shots this year. I just worked hard, and I’m just in kind of a bigger role this year.”

His versatility shined on the court against the Pirates as he battled inside the arc, collecting a team-high seven rebounds.

“I just wanted to go out there and play as hard as I could,” Pingeton said. “At this point, you never know what’s going to be the last game of the season, so you just have to go out there, play as hard as you can every second on the court, and just leave it all out there.”

Wilson scored 13 points to go along with three rebounds. Like Pingeton, Wilson has taken strides both on and off the court throughout the 2023-24 campaign.

“I feel like I’ve become a better leader this year,” Wilson said. “Last year, it was a team full of seniors. I didn’t really get a chance to be a leader, so this year, I really have been able to grow as a leader.”

It's been an impressive streak for the junior guard. Prior to the Trailblazers district title win, Wilson averaged 24 points per game to close out the regular season, including a 38-point performance against a one-loss Sikeston team and 25 over a 25-win St. Francois Borgia team.

“I don’t think there’s any more secrets. Zay is a Power 5 player. He’s one of the best players in the state, definitely one of the best players in the Midwest, and so his ceiling is so high, and so I’m really proud of him.”

Javar Galbreath and Mizzou commit Aaron Rowe added 11 each against Booneville. Galbreath also tallied five rebounds of his own in a well-rounded team effort.

“I definitely feel like we’ve grown as a unit,” Wilson said. “At first it wasn't really a team. Now, I feel like we’ve been executing and playing defense as a team so I feel like we really go hard.”

Tolton returns to the court on Tuesday in the Class 4 State Tournament. The Trailblazers will travel to face Bolivar in Bolivar, Missouri. Tip off between both teams will be at 7 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How the teacher of experience has Tolton playing some of its best basketball at the right time