Day: December 9, 2020

WEBB CITY, Mo. ­— In what’s become an annual occurrence, the Webb City boys basketball program once again began a new season against the Lamar Tigers.

And on Tuesday night, the Cardinals extended their win streak in the series.

Webb City earned a convincing 77-48 win over Lamar in the opener of the 2020-21 season inside the Cardinal Dome. 

For the Cardinals, it’s the seventh straight win over the Tigers to open a new campaign. 

“I feel good,” Webb City coach Jason Horn said. “I think we played well in stretches. We have some things we have to fix. But court time will help. We have a good mix of guys who have been in practice, but we have to adjust to the guys who have had just about five days to prepare. We’re playing ourselves into shape in certain spots.”

Of course, many of the Tigers played for the school’s football team that just won a Class 2 state championship this past Saturday. 

Webb City knows all about that scenario, as several of this year’s Cardinals got off to a late start to the hoops season after the football program advanced to the state semifinals. 

“This is Year 5 for me, so we’re used to doing it,” Horn said. “It’s just something we’ve adjusted to. The kids have been in the system long enough that when they do come in, it’s about polishing things up.” 

Junior forward Kaden Turner scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Cardinals (1-0), while versatile senior guard Nickhai Howard recorded a double-double. The 5-foot-11 Howard scored 15 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and also handed out four assists. 

“Nickhai is very talented and I thought he did a good job of directing traffic on both ends of the floor,” Horn said. “His basketball IQ has improved. In my opinion, he’s as good as any player in the area right now.” 

Sophomore Alex Martin also had a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards, while junior Cohl Vaden scored 11 points, hitting three 3-pointers. 

Mekhi Garrard and Max Higginbotham added eight points apiece for the Cardinals, who had eight different players score.  

Webb City made 45 percent of its field goal attempts (33-of-73), including 7-of-18 3-pointers.

Case Tucker scored 16 points to lead Lamar, while Conner Shoff added nine. The Tigers made 16-of-53 shots from the floor (30 percent), including just 3-of-23 3-pointers (13 percent). 

In a game they never trailed, Webb City stormed out of the gates and took a 13-2 lead. The Cardinals showed off their depth and used full-court pressure to convert steals into hoops in transition. 

Webb City led 23-9 at the end of the first quarter, 43-19 at the break and 64-37 entering the final frame. 

As you’d expect in a season opener for both teams, the play was sloppy at times. Lamar had 18 turnovers and Webb City had 16 turnovers. 

“There are things we can fix, but there are a lot of positives from this one,” Horn said.

Webb City is at East Newton on Friday. The Cardinals do not play at home again until Dec. 19. 

WEBB CITY, Mo. — It was a night of firsts for the Webb City girls basketball program.

For starters, the Cardinals played at home for the first time during the 2020-21 season.

On top of that, the Cardinals had their full squad in uniform for the first time this winter.

And perhaps most importantly, the Cardinals earned their first win.

Led by its senior trio, Webb City rolled to a 54-35 win over Lamar on Tuesday night inside the Cardinal Dome. 

The Cardinals won for the first time after going 0-3 last week at Carthage’s tourney, where the team did not have everyone available. 

“It was nice to have everybody out there,” Webb City coach Lance Robbins said. “Last week was a learning experience for us. A lot of younger kids were able to get some experience and hopefully that will pay off for us down the road. You could see that we still have some kinks to work out with everybody. But I think we’re going in the right direction.” 

Webb City’s three seniors all scored in double figures, as Jaydee Duda scored 18 points, while Sierra Kimbrough had 15 and Raven Vaughn added 11. 

“All three of our seniors did a good job of scoring the basketball tonight,” Robbins said. “We expect a lot out of those three and I thought they did a good job tonight.” 

Also for Webb City, Kenzie Robbins and Ripley Shanks scored three points apiece, while Kate Brownfield and Kylie Jennings contributed two points apiece. 

The Cardinals led 9-7 at the end of the first quarter, but Webb City outscored Lamar 18-4 in the game-changing second quarter to take control of the non-conference clash. 

Kimbrough scored 13 during the second period, including the first seven points of the frame. 

Late in the half, Kimbrough’s two hoops in transition gave Webb City a 27-11 halftime advantage. 

“Defensively, I thought we were doing a good job,” Robbins said. “I thought the big key for us was Sierra Kimbrough on both ends. She set the tone for us. She’s our leader. She does a great job defensively. Tonight, we were able to take advantage of her in pick-and-roll situations for a few minutes. She was able to get her own buckets and she got us going offensively. It was a good job by her.” 

The hosts continued to pull away in the third quarter. Duda’s two buckets gave the Cardinals a 31-13 lead. Later in the third period, Vaughn hit a corner trey and then made a layup to give Webb City a comfortable 39-18 cushion. 

Lamar scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, but a pair of hoops in transition from Duda gave Webb City a 45-25 advantage with 4:15 left. 

“I think we rebounded the ball a little better in the second half,” Robbins said. “We’ve still got to get better at putting people away. Lamar did a good job of competing.” 

Webb City hosts Miller at 7:30 on Thursday night.