Nine boys from Walnut Grove had a date with redemption.
The Tigers won the first high school boys basketball state championship in their school’s history by beating Advance 65-62 Saturday afternoon in Columbia. The Class 1 title win redeems a 69-49 loss to Stanberry in the 2016 state championship final.
Junior Logan Thomazin hit two critical free throws with 37.5 seconds remaining in the game to give Walnut Grove (30-3) the lead it needed to win the game. Walnut Grove’s all-time leading scorer finished with 31 points.
Thomazin’s performance was a far cry from the 2016 final, when he missed every field goal he attempted.