Columbia, MO - One of the largest crowds Mizzou Arena has hosted all year packed in to witness Tolton and Barstow, the state’s two best Class 3 programs, battle for a state title.

The fans were treated to an instant classic.

Fueled by stellar performances from two of Missouri’s best high school players, Saturday’s game proved worthy of determining a state champion.

For 32 minutes, hardly anything separated the squads, each of which is loaded with Division I talent.

Only after a heart-stopping final sequence did Tolton defeat Barstow 62-60, becoming the first boys team from Columbia to win a state championship since Hickman in 1962.

After falling behind by 11 with 58 seconds left in the third quarter, second-ranked Barstow reeled off 10 straight points to make it a 48-47 game with 6:40 to go.

Tolton couldn’t pull away, even after a 9-2 run in the fourth quarter. Knights forward Jeriah Horne refused to concede. He scored Barstow’s final 10 points, including two 3-pointers that cut Tolton’s lead to two points with 33 seconds remaining.

A foul by Michael Porter Jr. put Shea Rush on the free-throw line with 2.5 seconds left and the Knights down two. Rush missed his first attempt. He intentionally missed the second, got his own rebound and put up a jumper at the buzzer. It clanged off the rim, setting off a celebration from the Tolton faithful.

“This is nothing but joy,” Porter said. “We knew coming in it was going to be a tough game, but Coach told us he didn’t want to be there with any other players, and neither did I. Those are some of my best friends, and to be able to win a state championship with those guys is really something special.”

Much of the pregame excitement was focused on Porter and Horne.

Porter, the country’s second-ranked junior, finished with 31 points and 19 rebounds before fouling out. Horne, a 6-foot-7 Nebraska signee, recorded 39 points and 14 rebounds and shot 15 of 28 from the field. He was 4 of 6 on 3-pointers. Both played all 32 minutes.

“I just feel like it was two players that were chasing a dream,” Horne said.

Despite the state’s No. 1 ranking, the Trailblazers entered the game with a daunting task before them: unseat the title-holders. Barstow returned all five starters from last year’s championship squad.

The Knights also entered with the longest winning streak in Class 3, which dated to a Jan. 30 loss to Kickapoo. Barstow responded by winning 13 in a row by an average of 32.1 points. In three years, its only loss to a Class 3 squad was against Cardinal Ritter in the 2014 state championship.

But Tolton was a team constructed for this occasion. Losses in the state quarterfinals in back-to-back years fueled the Trailblazers’ pursuit of a championship.

For the full story, visit the ColumbiaTribune.com