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Day: January 29, 2021

McAuley Catholic set to host annual Mercy Warrior Classic

Posted on by Jason Peake

The annual Mercy Warrior Classic basketball tournament begins on Monday at McAuley Catholic.

The girls field consists of College Heights, McAuley, Thomas Jefferson, Lamar, Lamar’s JV and Sheldon.

The boys tourney features Thomas Jefferson, College Heights Christian, Joplin’s junior varsity, Sheldon, Carl Junction’s JV and the host Warriors. 

“I’m excited,” McAuley Catholic athletics director and girls basketball coach Mike Howard said. “We’re bringing in some really good teams and it should be a lot of good competition on the boys and girls side. It should be a fun week of basketball.” 

The tourney begins on Monday and wraps up Saturday. 

“It’s going to be a good one,” McAuley boys basketball coach Tony Witt said of the tourney. “TJ’s state-ranked, College Heights is tough and Joplin’s JV will probably be the most athletic team in the tournament. There should be some really good games.” 

The lone girls game Monday features McAuley vs. Sheldon at 5.  Monday’s boys games feature Thomas Jefferson against the Joplin JV at 6:30, with College Heights taking on the Carl Junction JV at 8. 

On Tuesday, the College Heights girls meet Lamar’s JV at 5, followed by the Lamar varsity vs. Sheldon at 6:30. The Thomas Jefferson boys take on Sheldon at 8. 

McAuley’s boys kick off the event at 5 on Wednesday against Carl Junction’s JV. 

Also Wednesday, the CHC girls meet TJ at 6:30 before the Joplin JV boys take on Sheldon at 8. 

Thursday’s schedule has Thomas Jefferson’s girls against Lamar’s JV at 5, the McAuley girls meet Lamar at 6:30 and the McAuley boys square off against College Heights at 8.

Friday’s schedule has the fifth place games for girls (5) and boys (6:30). 

Saturday’s slate has the girls third place game at 1, the boys third place game at 3, the girls title game at 5 and the boys championship game at 7.

 

COLLEGE HOOPS: Stokes’ historic 30-20 game propels Missouri Southern women to OT win

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Missouri Southern women’s basketball team utilized an historic performance by Madi Stokes and came away with an 81-78 overtime win over Rogers State inside the Claremore Expo Center today.

Southern (5-8, 5-8 MIAA) was led offensively by Stokes with a career-high 31 points shooting 13-of-19 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line while grabbing a game-high 21 boards and swatting away seven shots. Stokes picks up her fourth double-double of the season, third career game with five-plus blocks tying Zoe Campbell (17-pres.) for the Southern career mark. Second 20+ rebound game this season the most in program history. Stokes is the first Lion to record a 30-point 20 rebound game and she tied a Southern record with seven blocks in the game (Zoe Campbell at Harding 11-9-19). Stokes is now tied for fifth in career shots blocked at Southern with Marie Scott (95-97) with 67.

Carley Turnbull had 12 points shooting 4-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line while grabbing nine rebounds. Megan Jackson had 10 points shooting 6-of-8 from the free throw line and providing a team-high five assists.

Rogers State (4-9, 4-9 MIAA) was led offensively by Vanessa Gajdosova with 19 points going 5-of-9 from behind the three-point line while dishing out a game-high six assists.

Brooke Stuaffer got the Lions on top with a layup to set it at 4-2 with 9:01 remaining in the quarter. Megan Jackson cut the Hillcats’ lead to one (9-8) with 5:46 left off a jumper to end a 7-2 run by Rogers State.

In the quarter Rogers State went 10-of-10 from the free throw line.

The Lions opened up the second quarter on an 8-0 run as Madi Stokes capped the run with a face-up jumper from a Hunnicutt assist to take the 20-19 led with 7:22 left in the half. Following a Kloe Bowin layup for the Hillcats, Southern responded with a 6-0 run as Brooke Stauffer connected on a jumper with 3:50 remaining to push the lead to five (26-21). Layne Skiles would push the lead to six (31-25) with 38 seconds left in the half.

Southern limited the Hillcats to 13 percent shooting from the field in the quarter while shooting 57 percent themselves.

Stokes converted a turnaround jumper and-one to push the lead to four (37-33) with 7:40 left in the third. Rogers State went on a 6-0 run and led by two after a Kliewer three-point play (39-37) with 6:32 remaining. Stokes got the lead for the Lions’ with 5:05 left after converting on a layup to put it at (41-39). The Lions went on a 9-3 run capped off by Emily Kuntze sinking two free-throws to put it at (52-47) to end the quarter.

The Lions started the fourth on a 6-0 run that pushed the lead to 11 (58-47) forcing a Hillcats timeout. Rogers State responded with a 6-0 run as Alyche Brown sank two free throws to cut the lead to five with 5:19 left. Stokes pushed the lead back up to eight (65-57) with 1:54 left after hitting a free throw. The last minute of regulation saw the Hillcats go on an 11-5 run as Gajdosova hit a banked corner three with a second remaining in regulation to tie and send the game into overtime.

The Lions got their first points of overtime with a Stokes turnaround jumper to tie it at 73 with 4:43 remaining. Turnbull connected on a three-point play with 4:03 left to put Southern ahead by three (76-73). Rogers State came back with a 5-0 run to take the lead (78-76) after a Thompson free throw with 2:40 left. Turnbull answered with a putback layup with 58 seconds left before Jackson took the lead for good with two free throws with seven seconds remaining. Stokes put the finishing touches on her career night making a free throw with a second left.

Southern shot 50 percent from the field while limiting the Hillcats to 31 percent, out rebounded them 44-38, and scored more points in the paint 38-20.

The Lions will be back in action at Northeastern State this Saturday. Tip off from the NSU Event Center in Tahlequah is slated for 1:30 pm.

 

COLLEGE HOOPS: Big games from Bundy, Martin lift Missouri Southern men

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

CLAREMORE, Okla. – Cam Martin scored a season-high 38 points and Christian Bundy posted his first-ever double-double with a career-high 25 points and the Missouri Southern men’s basketball program took out Rogers State 96-87 inside the Claremore Expo Center.

Southern (7-6, 7-6 MIAA) had four score in double-figures led by Martin and Bundy. Martin went 11-of-16 from the field and 13-of-13 from the free throw line for 38 points and eight rebounds, while dishing out five assists. The 38 points put Martin in fifth-place in the all-time scoring list at MSSU with 1,794 points in just three years in the Green and Gold. Martin also went over 700 rebounds in his career and has 705 after the night, while the one block he had give him 92 blocks and puts him in fifth-place all-time in that category.

Bundy was on fire in the first half and finished the night with 25 points and 10 rebounds, going 8-of-12 from the field, 4-of-5 from long-range and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Lawson Jenkins scored 16 with five made three’s, while Stan Scott chipped in 12 points and seven boards.

RSU (6-7, 6-7 MIAA) had five in double-figures led by 23 points from Devin Pullum.

Both teams traded baskets early on, but a pair of freebies from Scott with 16:02 on the clock put the Lions on top 10-9. Bundy then went to work. Already with a three-pointer, Bundy connected on back-to-back-to-back three’s to put the Lions up 19-11 with 13 minutes to go. A pair of freebies from Martin with 12:31 left put the Lions up 21-11, but RSU answered back with a 9-0 run to get within a point (21-20) with ten to go.

Southern led 25-22 after a pair of free throws from Martin with 8:51 left, but three-straight freebies from the Hillcats tied the game at 25 with eight to go. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the half and Southern went into the locker room, trailing 43-40.

Bundy was perfect from the floor in the first half going 6-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from long-range.

Martin started the second half with a bucket to get the Lions within one and a bucket from Martin with 15:35 from Martin put the Lions in front 51-49 before a dunk from Scott extended the lead to four (53-49) the next trip down. A four-point play from Jenkins with 13 minutes to go put the Lions up 59-53, but the Hillcats went on an 8-0 run to lead 61-59 after a three-pointer with 11:58 on the clock.

Jenkins’ fourth three of the half put the Lions up 69-68 with 8:33 left, while a three from Martin and a bucket from Scott put the Lions up 74-70 with 5:55 to go. A pair of free throws from Bundy with 4:18 to go put the Lions up three (77-74) and a three from Martin gave the Lions an 80-76 leads with 3:43 to go.

Two freebies from Martin, a three from Jenkins and a three-point play from Scott put the Lions up 88-79 with 1:52 to go. A three from Avery Taggart with under a minute to go put the Lions up 91-83 and a dunk from Bundy with 28 seconds left put the game away.

The Lions shot 49 percent from the field, 46 percent from long-range and 85 percent from the free throw line. Southern had a 40-29 advantage on the boards.

Next up for the Lions will be Northeastern State as Southern will travel to Tahlequah on Saturday. Tip off is set for 3:30 pm.

 

PREP HOOPS ROUNDUP: Carthage girls, Webb City boys earn wins; TJ boys fall to Golden City

Posted on by Lucas Davis

CARTHAGE GIRLS 82, SENECA 50

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage senior Hailey Fullerton poured in a career-high 35 points and hit five 3-pointers to lead the Tigers, who returned to action after a long layoff.

“Hailey was our offensive catalyst in the second and third quarters, which is how we scored 50 points as a team in the middle two quarters,” Tigers coach Scott Moore said.  

Carthage (11-7) hadn’t played in two weeks.

“The two-week gap between games showed with a sluggish first half, but we came out with more energy and better execution in the second half and ran away from a hot shooting Seneca team tonight,” Moore said. 

Kianna Yates added 14 points and Brinna Ream had 13 for the Tigers, who led 35-30 at the half before pulling away in the third quarter.

Carthage outscored Seneca 29-15 in the third period. 

“We will need to play better over the entire 32 minutes next week when we host Republic on Thursday, and the girls know that,” Moore said. “They will be up for that challenge.” 

Aliya Grotjohn scored 33 points for the Indians, who fell to 6-12, while Makayla French had 10. 

 

WEBB CITY BOYS 57, PARKVIEW 51

NIXA, Mo. — Webb City pulled away late a 57-51 win over Parkview on Thursday night at the Nixa Invitational Tournament. 

The Cardinals trailed 26-25 at halftime, but Webb City led 40-39 at the end of the third quarter.

The Cardinals outscored the Vikings 17-12 in the fourth quarter to secure the close win.

Luke Brumit scored 20 points, making 9-of-10 shots and 2-of-3 free throws, and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Cardinals (13-4). 

Nickhai Howard added 13 points, six rebounds and five assists for Webb City, while Mekhi Garrard and Cohl Vaden contributed nine points apiece. 

Elijah Whitley scored 22 points for Parkview (5-8). 

 

GOLDEN CITY BOYS 69, THOMAS JEFFERSON 55

DIAMOND, Mo. — Thomas Jefferson took a 30-25 lead into the intermission before Golden City took the lead in the third and pulled away in the fourth on the way to the win.

The Eagles (15-4) outscored the Cavaliers (13-3) by eight in the third to take a three-point lead into the final right minutes, 47-44. Golden City doubled up Thomas Jefferson 22-11 in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles had just four players reach the scoreboard, but all of them put up double digits. Matt Weiser led the way with 24, while Chain Parrill finished with 18 and Lane Dunlap scored 17. Josh Reeves added 10. 

Caden Myers led Thomas Jefferson with 18 points, while Jay Ball added 13. Drew Goodhope had nine and Tyler Brouhard had eight.

Thomas Jefferson takes part in the Mercy Warrior Classic with a matchup against Joplin JV on Monday.

BOYS HOOPS: Wagner reaches milestone in McAuley’s win over Jasper

Posted on by Jason Peake

Daniel Wagner was a bit caught off guard when the McAuley Catholic faithful erupted following his third quarter layup. 

“It was surprising,” Wagner said. “I didn’t think I made that good of a layup. Then I realized what had just happened. It was a pretty amazing feeling.” 

A 6-foot-2 senior, Wagner surpassed 1,000 career points in McAuley Catholic’s 75-59 victory over Jasper on Thursday night.

Wagner entered the night needing 17 points to reach the milestone. With 15 points already in the books, Wagner scored on a strong drive down the lane with 5:11 remaining in the third quarter to hit 1,000.

After Wagner scored his 17th point, Warriors coach Tony Witt called a timeout, and McAuley’s fans gave Wagner a standing ovation and the school’s student section began chanting his name. 

“It felt really great,” Wagner said. 

“It was awesome to see,” Witt said. “It’s cool to experience that as a player, but I think it’s even better as a coach to be a part of that. His work ethic has been great.” 

Wagner, who finished the night with 23 points on seven field goals and 9-of-11 free throws, said he never imagined he’d reach 1,000 career points back a couple of years ago.

“It wasn’t really an accomplishment I thought I could get when I started playing varsity my sophomore year,” Wagner said. “I didn’t think it was a possibility at all. The game has just come to me, it’s been great. The key has been putting in the time, working hard, staying with it and relying on my teammates. I’ve been playing with these guys since elementary school, so we have a bond. Those guys have kept me going.”

Senior Matthew Dohmen also had a memorable night. Dohmen scored a game-high 26 points. He hit four 3-pointers. 

“Matt was big for us,” Witt said. “We’ve been waiting for him to break out. I’m glad he did that tonight on a win.” 

Senior Thomas Black added 11 points for McAuley (5-10).

As far as the game, McAuley got off to a blistering start, as the hosts scored the first 19 points of the night.

The Warriors were able to take control early by pushing the pace.

“We had a great start,” Witt said. “We disrupted how they wanted to play and we were playing fast. We turned them over and we capitalized on their turnovers. That was big for us. That’s something we haven’t done lately.”

The Warriors led 21-9 at the end of the first quarter and the hosts were up 41-18 at the half.

McAuley extended its lead to 57-25 in the third quarter. 

Jasper cut its deficit to 16 points in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles would get no closer. 

“It was kind of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation for us tonight though,” Witt said. “Luckily, we pulled it out.”

Jasper’s Jared Tidball scored 22 points and Ethan Cawyer added 19 points.

The Warriors return to action on Friday night at Exeter. 

 

 

BOYS HOOPS: East Newton pulls away from Joplin down the stretch

Posted on by Lucas Davis

GRANBY, Mo. — Joplin found itself in an early hole and was unable to climb out of it before East Newton pulled away to a 66-50 win on Thursday.

The Patriots (18-1) and Eagles (10-7) traded early scores before the Patriots closed the opening quarter with a run to build a nine-point lead. East Newton led by as many as 13 in the second period before Joplin cut it to seven by the intermission. The Eagles trimmed the margin to five late in the third quarter before East Newton scored 10 unanswered for a 15-point cushion in the fourth on the way to the win.

“East Newton is a really good team,” Joplin coach Jeff Hafer said. “There is a reason they are 18-1 now. … We struggled with a lot of what we’ve struggled with throughout the year—points in the paint and guarding the ball. … For us, it’s about toughness. We have a group that is battling themselves a little bit. … As we mature and accept some of those things, they are going to see a lot of success.”

East Newton’s Kyson Lahman set the tone in the paint for the Patriots’ 17-8 opening quarter, scoring five of the first seven points for his team while finishing the first eight minutes with 10 total.

“I told our kids before the game that he may not be the most-athletic player, but he is probably one of the most-skilled and savvy big guys we’ve played, if not the most, all year. … What he does probably better than anything, if you don’t front him, he buries your right at the basket and does a great job using his body.”

Holding a 21-15 advantage three-plus minutes into the second, the Patriots used a 7-0 run fueled by a pair of baskets by Gabe Bergen and a bucket from Lucas Kimbrough to push the margin to 28-15.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well early,” Hafer said. “We also, again, just missed a lot at the basket. When you miss layups, those are essentially turnovers. … That hurt. … We had opportunities early and didn’t capitalize. It was a dogfight from there.”

Joplin’s Dante Washington converts a twisting layup in the loss to East Newton on Thursday. Photos by Shawn Fowler.

Joplin finished out the first half with the final six points, with Always Wright coming up with two scores sandwiched around a Dante Washington offensive rebound and put-back score to cut the deficit to 28-21.

East Newton pushed the lead back to 10, 37-27, at the 4:07 mark when Tanner Youngblood converted inside while drawing contact for a three-point play and held the pace for another 90 seconds.

Joplin used a score on the drive from All Wright and a deep 3-pointer from Always Wright to bring East Newton’s lead down to five, 41-36, with less than two minutes to play.

“You have to get stops and you have to get to the rim,” Hafer said of his team’s ability to cut the lead to two possessions in the third. “We attacked a lot better during that stretch, getting to the rim or the free-throw line. That is big for us—being able to guard the paint on one end and get to the paint on the other end.”

Connor Killion knocked down a running shot at the buzzer to end the third and the Patriots scored the first eight points of the fourth, led by a 3-pointer and a three-point play from Kimbrough, to push the lead up to 15 midway through the fourth, 51-36. East Newton never relinquished the momentum for the final horn.

SCORING LEADERS

Kimbrough finished with a game-high 21 points to lead East Newton in scoring. Lahman finished the game with 18 points, with Bergen scoring 11.

Always Wright led Joplin with 16 points, while Washington finished with 12. All Wright had eight.

UP NEXT

Joplin hosts Carthage on Tuesday.

East Newton is at Cassville on Tuesday.

GIRLS HOOPS: McAuley girls ride big third quarter to win over Jasper

Posted on by Jason Peake

The 1-2 punch of Kayleigh Teeter and Kennedy DeRuy led the McAuley Catholic girls basketball team to a 47-34 victory over Jasper on Thursday night.

A 5-foot-4 junior, Teeter led the way with 19 points on nine field goals. Teeter scored 10 in the first half and nine after the break, and also hounded Jasper point guard Alexis Durman.

A 5-7 junior, DeRuy added 11 points on four field goals and a pair of free throws. 

Warriors coach Mike Howard has come to expect the duo to lead the way for his squad.

“They did a really good job for us tonight,” Howard said. “Kayleigh was really efficient offensively. And I was really impressed with Kayleigh’s defense. She held Durman to seven points and they were all free throws. She’s been averaging about 20 a game. She’s a nice player, she’s very quick and she’s scored over 1,000 points, so Kayleigh did a great job on her. And Kennedy didn’t force shots and she did a good job on the boards.”

The Warriors improved to 11-6. 

McAuley led 15-8 at the end of the first quarter, and the hosts held a 22-12 lead after a short jumper from Abbey Cahalan. 

But the Eagles closed the first half on an 8-2 surge, cutting their deficit to 24-20 at halftime.

“We started out in a triangle-and-two to try and take away their best two players,” Howard said. “In the first quarter, it worked pretty well, but then they started beating it by getting to the basket and drawing fouls. They got us out of our game in the second quarter. They out-played us.”

Ignited by a defensive change, McAuley finished the third period on a 17-2 run to take control, with 14 unanswered points during the surge. 

The spurt was capped by Teeter’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer, which gave McAuley a comfortable 45-25 advantage heading into the final frame. 

Teeter and DeRuy combined for 15 of the 17 points in the burst, as Kloee Williamson chipped in a hoop. 

Jasper was limited to two field goals in the third quarter. 

Howard noted his team’s defense did a solid job of containing the speedy Durman. 

“In the third quarter, we switched things up and went to a box-and-one (on Durman),” Howard said. “We focused on trying to keep her out of the paint and out of the lane. We wanted to make other people beat us. I have to give credit to our girls. I think they did a really good job defensively. We got some turnovers and some rebounds and transition points.”

The Eagles outscored the Warriors 9-2 in the fourth quarter, but McAuley’s lead was never in jeopardy.

Mercadez Scott scored eight points for Jasper, while Durman and Olivia Moss had seven points apiece. 

McAuley returns to action at Exeter on Friday night. 

 

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