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NEW PHILADELPHIA - The Barnesville Shamrocks defeated the West Muskingum Tornadoes 54-42 to advance to the Division III boys' district basketball tournament finals at New Philadelphia Friday night.

Barnesville will go up against top-seeded Garaway at 7 p.m. for a berth in next week's D-III regional at Athens.

The 'Rocks survived a third quarter push by the Tornadoes that narrowed the difference to just five points.

"We have a lot of sophomores and juniors out there on the floor," said Barnesville head coach Chris Pack. "Sometimes, they still do some sophomore boneheaded things, but they never let it shake their confidence."

Barnesville took advantage of a quick transition game to mount a first quarter lead and led their opponents 14-9 going into the second period.

"They were throwing everyone and a player off their bench in there to try and get rebounds," Pack said of the quick scoring opportunities. "That left one of our players open in the back court and we took advantage of that."

The Shamrocks' Preston Dornan and Dalton Smith were on the receiving of a dozen such long-range passes but on this night, that was not to be the difference. Both squads hit 15 two-point and one three-point bucket. The difference was at the foul line.

Barnesville had struggled getting its foul shots to fall in the sectional games. The Rocks were a perfect four of four in the first quarter and six of eight in the second as they finished with a 57 percent rating, netting 21 of 37 opportunities. "We showed some signs of life at the foul line tonight," Pack commented, "We went to the line with confidence."

West Muskingum made 9 of 21 for 42 percent efficiency.

The Shamrocks were also playing tough off the glass at both ends of the court. "We got a lot of one-and-outs tonight," reflected Pack. "We struggled a little bit there in the third quarter."

The Tornadoes came back to win the third quarter, 10-8, as Barnesville netted just two field goals and shot four of eight from the foul line in the frame.

Preston Dornan came out in the fourth and netted a three-point bucket to fire up the Green faithful in attendance. The Shamrocks quickly doubled their advantage and held on for the win.

Dalton Smith paced Barnesville with 15 points, netting 9 of 16 penalty shots as he came up short on a triple-double adding 10 rebounds and eight assists. Preston Dornan also hit double figures with 14 points while Bryson Stephen added eight points. Tyler Fitzpatrick added 10 caroms as Barnesville finished with 37 team rebounds, 15 assists and 15 turnovers.

Austin Brock paced the Tornadoes with 14 points.

BARNESVILLE (54) - Smith 3, 9-16 15; Dornan, P. 6, 1-2 14; Stephen 3, 2-3 8; Bohandy 2, 2-6 6; Fitzpatrick 1, 2-2 4; Delaney 0, 4-4 4; Dornan, Z. 1, 1-2 3; Bailey 0, 0-2 0; Hunkler 0, 0-0 0; MacMillan 0, 0-0 0; McBride 0, 0-0 0; Lewis 0, 0-0 0. Totals - 16, 21-37. WEST MUSKINGUM (42) - Brock 5, 3-4 14; Brown 3, 1-4 7; Click 3, 0-1 6; Secoy 2, 2-6 6; Gutridge 2, 1-2 5; Wilson 1, 2-2 4; Coward 0, 0-2 0.Totals 16, 9-21.

Three-point goals. Barnesville - P. Dornan. West Muskingum - Brock.

Palmer can be reached at mpalmer@timesleaderonline.com