DIAMOND, Mo. — Neosho’s active defense helped create offensive opportunities from the start.
The result was a convincing 66-38 non-conference victory over Diamond on Monday night.
Neosho hiked its season record to 5-1 with the lopsided win.
“It’s always good to get wins and we’ve been coming out and competing well,” Neosho coach Zane Culp said. “We’ve been taking them one game at a time, especially in this atmosphere. Any game we get to play is great, especially when you win. We wanted to get as many wins as possible going into the holiday tournament. That’s always a fun time. We have some confidence and we’ll be ready to roll.”
With an aggressive pressure defense, Neosho was able to convert Diamond’s turnovers into points in transition throughout the clash between Wildcats.
“That’s kind of our calling card,” Culp said. “We have a lot of guys who can score, but we feel like if we play great defense that will turn into opportunities offensively. I thought we played much better offensively in the second half. We still had transition, but we took better shots and didn’t turn the ball over.”
Neosho sophomore guard Carter Fenske scored 14 points with four 3-pointers.
“I’d like to say I’m surprised, but I’m really not,” Culp said. “He’s been shooting like that since he was a seventh grader or even before. He’s got it figured out. He’s made nine 3-pointers the last three games and he’s shooting a very high percentage. He’s going to be a weapon.”
Senior Dalton Brodie scored 11 points, classmate Chase Flynn contributed 10 points and fellow senior Landon Austin had eight.
Senior Luke Lawson scored 16 points for Diamond and junior Hunter Shallenburger added 10.
The visitors scored the first eight points of the game. The 6-foot-1 Fenske scored 11 points in the opening frame, knocking down three treys, and Neosho led 19-8.
By the break, Neosho was up 31-19.
Neosho outscored Diamond 13-7 in the third period to take a commanding 44-26 lead into the fourth quarter.
A pair of hoops inside from Brodie pushed Neosho’s advantage to 48-28 with six minutes remaining.
Everyone got into the act in the final frame for the visiting Wildcats, as sophomore Jared Siler buried two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, sophomore Michael Day hit a trey of his own, sophomore Isaiah Green scored a pair of hoops in the paint and junior Ryno Lee recorded his first varsity hoop.
Neosho had 11 different players score in the game.
“That’s always good,” Culp said. “Several guys had their first points of the season. It’s exciting to see guys get that experience.”
NEOSHO HOLIDAY CLASSIC UPDATE
The Neosho Holiday Classic will look much different this season. The event will feature only six local squads due to the pandemic.
“It’s kind of a bummer that teams from out of state couldn’t come,” Culp said. “But the most important thing is we’re getting to play. We’re going to play three games. Two of our games will be against someone we haven’t played (Lamar, Hillcrest), so that’s good. I’m just glad the boys get to play and still get to have that experience. I think we’ll have big crowds with local teams coming.”
Using a round-robin format, the Holiday Classic runs from Dec. 28-30.
On Monday, Dec. 28, Hillcrest plays McDonald County at 5, East Newton takes on Monett at 6:30 and Neosho plays Lamar at 8.
On Dec. 29, Lamar meets Monett at 5, East Newton takes on McDonald County at 6:30 and Neosho plays Hillcrest at 8. On Dec. 30, Neosho plays Monett at 5, Lamar meets McDonald County at 6:30 and East Newton takes on Hillcrest at 8.
There is no girls tournament this year.
