John Burroughs boys top Logan-Rogersville in Missouri Class 4 basketball semifinal

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI – The John Burroughs boys basketball team is headed to the state championship game for the first time since winning the Missouri Class B title in 1953.

The Bombers defeated Logan-Rogersville 46-42 in the Class 4 semifinals on Friday morning at Mizzou Arena and will play for the championship on Saturday.

"This team hasn't been to the finals I think since 1953 and we see that on the banner every day at practice," Burroughs coach Pee Wee Lenard said. "We made a pact that we would try to be the next ones that could possibly put something on that banner. The guys have really, really bought into the hard work all summer to get us to this point. ... They really wanted this. They felt like we had a team this year that could possibly get here."

Junior forward DJ Johnson scored a team-high 11 points off the bench for John Burroughs (27-4), who will play either Vashon (24-6) or KC Central (23-6) in the championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Sophomore forward Tristan Reed had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Senior guard Ramzi Salem scored eight points.

The John Burroughs girls basketball team captured its second state title in three seasons on Thursday.

Missouri (MSHSAA) basketball state championships live updates: Day 3 scores, news, stories (3/15/2024)

Freshman point guard Chase Branham led Logan-Rogersville (27-4) with a game-high 17 points and five assists.

"They are big and physical and we knew that coming in," Logan-Rogersville coach John Schaefer said. "We planned to try to clog the lane a lot and be physical back and do some things and I thought we did that. Their shooting, early, was really good. They didn't miss many 3's and made us pay for every time we made a mistake early."

The Bombers took control of a back-and-forth game in the final minutes as they outscored the Wildcats 10-4 in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore forward Tristan Reed had seven points and seven rebounds in the first half as Burroughs led 29-24.

Burroughs junior guard Owen Walther knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter to help the Bombers earn a 12-11 edge after one quarter.

Missouri Class 4 boys basketball semifinal: John Burroughs - Logan-Rogersville

Photos by Nate Latsch

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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveMiz