​​​Feb. 20, 2020

ST. ELIZABETH, Mo. --- Sometimes, dreams do come true ... as do dream seasons.

The thing about dreams is they eventually end, you wake up and return to reality.

Well, you might say the St. Elizabeth Hornets are still asleep, because this dream continues.

Last year, the Hornets advanced to the Final Four for just the third time in school history, and the first in 14 years. The Hornets finished third, as their quest to win the first state championship in program history fell short.

That team was driven by a powerful junior class, a class that drove the bus all the way to Springfield. Doing the math, add one year to that and now, these guys are powerful seniors revving up for glory's last shot.

Is there any pressure to get it done, because this is the year?

"I haven't really felt any sense of pressure within our program," said Hornets third-year head coach Dillon Tenholder. "Of course, there's always all kinds of outside noise, especially since we're coming off that Final Four season.

"But for us, we just want to focus on what's going on within our four walls and what we need to do each day. That's one of the things we told the guys coming into this year, because we all knew the expectations and what could be accomplished."

So far, so good.

For the second straight regular season, the Hornets didn't lose a game to a school in their class. They're currently 18-5 and ranked No. 4 in Class 1, and they're  riding a 10-game winning streak heading into Thursday night's regular-season finale at Class 2 New Bloomfield.

That will run the winning streak to 11, because to say the Wildcats (3-16, lost 12 of 13) are struggling would be an act of kindness.

Of St. Elizabeth's five losses, one was to Class 5 Nixa, one was to Blair Oaks (No. 1 Class 3) and another was to Skyline (No. 3 Class 2).

"Games like that present new challenges, but they also help make us better," Tenholder said. "Those are the type of games we need to be playing."

Only one of the losses might be considered a blight on their record, an 87-80 double-overtime home loss to California (8-15), a team that lost by 51 points to Blair Oaks on Tuesday night.

"Coming off of last year, we knew that every team we played, we were going to get their best shot," Tenholder said. "Give California credit, they came out and did what they needed to do to beat us.

"But that loss was kind of a turning point. It causes you to change some things, re-evaluate some things, regroup."

The Hornets haven't lost since.

"Sometimes," Tenholder said, "games like that work out for the better in the long run."

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SPEAKING OF THE LONG RUN ... this class of five seniors has been the program's foundation for four years. ThIs senior conversation starts with the 6-7 returning All-Stater, Ross Struemph.

"You couldn't ask for a better kid," Tenholder said. "He's an honor roll student, he's involved in church, he's just a great kid off the court --- not to mention his impact on the court and on the baseball field. He puts in a lot of work --- there's a lot of time it's just he and I in the gym, he calls me or sends me a text asking to get in.

"It's just him trying to get better."

Struemph is averaging a double-double, 21 points and 10 rebounds, and boasts impressive career totals of 1,858 points and 871 rebounds.

If the Hornets keep winning, 2,000 points is certainly within reach.

"He can shoot it inside and outside and he can dribble, which is huge," said Tenholder, 24, who's 57-23 with the Hornets. "A lot of big kids anymore can't really dribble, they play with their backs to the basket and that's about it. But Ross has that versatility.

"And he's a leader, he's somebody we can lean on, the players as well as myself. He's one of those leaders who's a coach on the floor."

Then there's 6-5 senior Brady Heckemeyer, giving the Hornets a dynamic 1-2 punch.

"Brady's continued to develop, he's closing in on 1,000 career points, defensively he's our anchor, and he's another one who provides leadership and versatility for us," Tenholder said of Heckemeyer, who's averaging 15 ppg. and seven rpg.

"And the way those two work together, their chemistry, that's one of the reasons we're so successful. It's a lot of fun to watch and even more fun to coach."

Nolan Heckemeyer (9 ppg., 6 rpg., 4 apg.), a 6-4 senior and distant cousin of Brady, is the Hornets' "engine. He does a little bit of everything for us," Tenholder said.

The other senior starter is 5-10 Coltin Green (7 ppg.), "who's a high-energy guy or us, while 6-2 sophomore point guard Brock Lucas (10 ppg., 5 rpg., 7 apg.) runs the show.

"He's something else," Tenholder said of Lucas. His vision and the passes he makes, he sees things out there that nobody else sees. He's really starting to come into his own."

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IT'S A POWERFUL GROUP, TO BE SURE, but they're not unbeatable.

The Hornets have lost games by 11, 18 and 24 points this season and in last year's state semifinals, they lost to Dora --- a team that also returns all five starters from last year's 30-2 second-place finisher, and has backed that up with a 25-2 mark this season.

"Our biggest focus is not getting complacent, which is easy to do ... especially after last season and having everybody back," Tenholder said. "It's easy to have that one off night because you're looking ahead, that's what gets you."

Having said that, let's look ahead anyway ... if St.Elizabeth does make it to the Final Four, it wouldn't meet Dora until the state championship game.

"If we're able to get there," Tenholder said, "it doesn't really matter who you play, you're going to be playing a great team."

Takes one to know one.

Dream on.

Hornets eyeing back-to-back  
journeys to Class 1 Final Four

Central Bank Shootout:
No. 1 Falcons march on,

No. 3 Lady Jays upset​

Chris Leuckel

St. Elizabeth senior Ross Struemph puts up a 3-pointer over a Linn defender during the Hornets'  66-42 win Friday night at Linn.

Loeffler's Link