PEA RIDGE, Ark. — Neosho took a 10-point lead into the intermission and dominated host Pea Ridge 15-2 in the third quarter to cruise to victory in the Battle At The Ridge basketball tournament semifinals on Friday.
The Wildcats (3-0) outscored Pea Ridge 10-5 in the opening quarter and 12-7 in the second to take a 22-12 lead into the break. A 15-2 third quarter by Neosho put the game out of reach with the lead ballooning to 23 to start the fourth.
“We played great defense tonight,” Neosho coach Zane Culp said. “Holding a team to two points in a quarter like we did in the third is hard to do and we did it tonight. … We are excited for the opportunity to play in the championship game tomorrow.”
Neosho takes on Arkadelphia in the title game at 3:30 p.m.
K’dyn Waters led Neosho with 15 points, nine coming in the first half. Jared Siler added nine points, while Isaiah Green finished with eight. Brock Franklin scored six. “We’re really proud of Jared Siler,” Culp added. “He had a breakout game with nine points while playing great defense. He really stepped it up while others weren’t scoring.”
SARCOXIE BOYS 58, MCAULEY 47
A scoring drought in the second half was too much to overcome for McAuley’s boys.
The Bears outscored the Warriors 34-15 in the second half.
The momentum swung after the break, as Sarcoxie won the third period 16-2.
“I thought this was the closest game we have had to playing four quarters all year,” McAuley coach Tony Witt told SoMo Sports. “We simply could not buy a basket in the third quarter. We got some really good looks, but they didn’t go down. Give coach (Courtney) Roth and Sarcoxie credit, they took advantage of our mistakes and got better after each quarter.”
Three players scored in double figures for the Warriors (1-5), as Jeffery Horinek and Noah Black had 12 points apiece and Jacob Bracich added 10.
Terio Asterio scored 14 points for Sarcoxie (1-4), while Garrett Smith added 13 and Jaron Malotte chipped in 10.
McAuley travels to Exeter on Tuesday night, while Sarcoxie hosts Everton on Monday.
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Joplin dominated the second half to earn a 51-23 win in the semifinals on Friday over West Plains to earn a trip to the championship round of the 75th annual Carthage Invitational.
In other semifinal action, host Carthage rallied back from a double-digit deficit late before Raymore-Peculiar scored with less than 10 seconds to play to hold on for a 42-40 victory. Webb City knocked off Leavenworth 59-51 in a memorable win for coach Jason Horn.
JOPLIN DOMINATES SECOND HALF IN WIN SEMIFINAL WIN
Joplin closed the third quarter on a sizable run and held West Plains off the scoreboard for the entire final eight minutes of action on the way to the 51-23 win over the Zizzers for a bid to play in the tournament title game.
“I guess you could call it choppy,” Joplin coach Bronson Schaake said. “It seemed dead the way we started, energy-wise. We gradually picked it up. … I thought we started grinding defensively. … They only had nine total points in the second half. I told them we could be a really, really good to great defensive team if we just buy in, and I saw that tonight. We need that to carry us when we aren’t shooting well.”
GAME ACTION
Joplin guard All Wright fights to get off a floater in the Eagles’ win over West Plains in the semifinals of the Carthage Invitational on Friday. Photo by Brennan Stebbins.
After a tightly-contested first quarter, Joplin gained its first real cushion as it closed out the half with an 8-2 run. Leading 14-12, senior guard Bruce Wilbert knocked down a 3-pointer to push the lead to five before sophomore G All Wright pulled up in transition for a mid-range jumper. Senior F LT Atherton added a score on the break off a turnover and senior G Always Wright made a technical free throw with a minute to play to send the Eagles into the intermission with a 22-14 lead.
Like they did in the first half, Joplin closed the third quarter with all of the momentum thanks to a game-defining run. Holding a 26-19 advantage with 5:36 left to play, the Eagles used a 13-4 swing to build a 16-point lead with one quarter left to play.
“It was discipline,” Schaake said about what changed defensively in the second half. “We were leaving our feet on things that we shouldn’t be when we were closing out. We clamped them up. I think they got a little tired, too. … They are a physical team and I knew if we could match that, we would be alright.”
Always Wright started the run with a score off the drive before All Wright pushed the lead to 32-19 after splashing home a 3-ball from the wing with 3:50 on the clock.
Garrett Mahan scored inside for West Plains before Joplin junior F Terrance Gibson added to the run with an offensive rebound for a putback. Always Wright stopped and stepped back in transition at the top of the key, losing his defender, and sank a 3-pointer before picking up the assist on a Whit Hafer dive to the rim on a pick-and-roll to push the lead to 39-21 with 1:10 to play.
Joplin senior Bruce Wilbert smothers West Plains’ Landon Casey in the Eagles’ win over the Zizzers on Friday. Photo by Brennan Stebbins.
“That is our mentality,” Schaake said about the importance of using defense to create offensively in transition. “We practice that way for defensive reasons because if we are not shooting well, we can get some buckets here and there from steals or deflections when we are getting out and running. That is what we are trying to build this through, the defensive end.”
Joplin locked down on the defensive end in the fourth quarter, holding the Zizzers off the scoreboard for the entire eight minutes of action while cruising to victory with 12 unanswered points in the quarter. Sophomore Quinton Renfro accounted for four points, while Always Wright, All Wright, Gibson and Hafer all added buckets.
SCORING LEADERS
All Wright led Joplin with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Always Wright closed with 13 points, with a pair of 3-balls. Gibson finished with nine points, eight coming in the second half. Wilbert, Hafer and Renfro each had four.
RAY-PEC HOLDS ON FOR WIN OVER CARTHAGE
Carthage trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half only to rally and tie the game up late in the fourth before a layup from Raymore-Peculiar’s Myles Sutton inside the final 10 seconds to give the Panthers a 42-40 win over the Tigers in the first semifinal of the 75th annual Carthage Invitational on Friday.
“There were times a lot last year that it happened the same way,” Carthage coach Nathan Morris said. “We didn’t start well and we had to fight back. I am never going to question the fight in our kids, but I told them that the first three minutes of basketball games have got to change for us. The days of getting in a 7-0 hole and having to call a timeout just aren’t going to cut it this year. We talked a lot about our guard leadership. We have got to be able to start a basketball game better than that.”
The Tigers take on West Plains in the third-place game at 3 p.m. on Saturday, while Ray-Pec takes on Joplin in the championship at 4:30.
SCORING LEADERS
Sophomore G Ashton Jermain led Ray-Pec with 19 points, including a game-high five 3-pointers. Senior F Tucker Miller finished in double figures with 10 points.
Junior G Max Templeman led Carthage with 13 points, while senior G Joel Pugh, sophomore G Justin Ray and junior F Tyler Willis each added six points in the loss.
GAME ACTION
Carthage went scoreless for the first three minutes of game action, giving Ray-Pec an opportunity to build an 8-0 lead highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Jermain. Jermain hit two more 3-balls in the quarter to give Ray-Pec a 16-9 lead after the first period.
“I think they have to trust the work they’ve put in within our half-court offense,” Morris said about what adjustments need to be made to start games. “(Ray-Pec) did a good job of taking away sets early that we like to get into. Our kids were kind of put back on their heels by that. Once we settled in and realized that we could play basketball, we fought them really well.”
Pugh splashed home a 3-pointer to start the second quarter to cut Carthage’s deficit to four, but Jermain connected on three more 3-pointers, accounting for all of Ray-Pec’s points in the second period, to help the Panthers hold on to a 25-18 advantage at the break. Junior F Clay Kinder and Willis both added baskets for the Tigers in the second period.
Carthage senior Joel Pugh looks for room to drive in the Tigers’ loss to the Panthers on Friday. Photo by Brennan Stebbins.
Ray-Pec pushed the lead to double digits with an 8-2 run out of the intermission, with Miller accounting for six of those points.
The Panthers played with the double-digit lead for much of the third quarter before Carthage’s Templeman knocked down a long 3-pointer from the wing with 1:20 left and added a pullup jumper from the elbow to trim the margin to seven, 36-29, with eight minutes to play.
Heading into the fourth, the Tigers were in need of a run on offense, and they turned up the heat on defense to get it. Using the press at the six-minute mark, Carthage forced Ray-Pec into four turnovers over the next five minutes that led to a 9-0 run, tying the game at 40-40 with 1:03 left in regulation.
“Our kids took the challenge of one-on-one matchups,” Morris said about his team’s defense late. “We tried some zone press early in the game and they did a good job of breaking it. So, I asked the kids what they wanted to throw at them. They wanted to challenge them with full-court man. Our kids took that challenge, I just wish they would have earlier on.”
Pugh started the run with a 3-pointer from the wing before Ray added a pair of charities. Pugh pulled down an offensive rebound and was fouled on the putback, converting the and-1 free throw to trim the deficit to 40-39 with 2:34 to play. Templeman tied the game with a free throw with a minute to play.
The Panthers held possession until going into their offense with 10 seconds left, with Sutton finding room on the drive to the right for a layup off the glass to give Ray-Pec the lead and eventual win.
HORN EARNS WIN NO. 200
Webb City bounced back from an opening-round defeat with a 59-51 win over Leavenworth in the Carthage Invitational consolation semifinals after erasing a slim deficit at halftime with a dominating third quarter.
The victory over Leavenworth is Webb City coach Jason Horn’s 200th of his career.
The Cardinals (2-1) went into the half trailing by one before outscoring Leavenworth 14-5 out of the break to go up nine with eight minutes to play. Webb City held serve down the stretch to preserve the win.
The Cardinals will play Fort Smith Southside in the fifth-place game at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Junior G Dante Washington led Webb City with 23 points, while senior F Kaden Turner finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Junior F Trey Roets had eight points, five assists and three blocks. Senior G Dupree Jackson added six points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
JaiKuan Darthard led Leavenworth with 17 points, while Eddie McLaughlin had 12.
The Carl Junction Bulldogs are once again playing for the Freeman Lady Eagle Classic championship.
In what could be described as a gritty performance, Carl Junction used a strong finish to earn a 57-46 win over Blue Valley North on Friday night inside Joplin High School’s Kaminsky Gymnasium.
The Bulldogs will take on Farmington at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday in the 25th annual event’s title game.
The Cardinals from Arkansas rolled to a 71-18 win over Joplin in the first semifinal. Blue Valley North and Joplin will meet for third place at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
CARL JUNCTION 57, BLUE VALLEY NORTH 46
Clinging to a five-point cushion midway through the fourth quarter, Carl Junction (5-1) used a 13-4 spurt to hold off the Mustangs.
“Our kids really showed some toughness tonight against a really good team,” Bulldogs coach Brad Shorter said. “I’m very proud of them. We fought really hard. They were exhausted at the end of the game.”
Down three at the end of the first quarter, the Bulldogs scored the first 12 points of the second period to take a 21-12 lead.
Destiny Buerge and Klohe Burk both hit 3-pointers during the surge, while Kylie Scott had back-to-back hoops in the paint and Buerge scored on a drive through the lane.
Blue Valley North answered with seven straight points, but a putback by Dezi Williams gave Carl Junction a 23-19 halftime advantage.
The Bulldogs began the second half on a 9-0 run to go up 32-19, but the Mustangs once again responded, this time by finishing the third quarter on an 11-1 surge.
With that, Carl Junction was clinging to a 33-30 lead entering the final frame.
Leading 44-39, the Bulldogs pulled away for good.
During the final spurt, Scott converted an old-fashioned three-point play, Buerge hit a pull-up 3-pointer from the left wing, Anna Burch made two free throws and Buerge scored on a drive through the lane before Burk and Hali Shorter contributed free throws.
“That was big for our kids,” Shorter said of the late run. “We really focus on 6-0 runs. There were times we got an 8-0 or 10-0 run, but we let them back in it. We’ve got to get better at keeping that lead and not allowing more than one shot. We’re still trying to find different rotations and we’re going to get there for sure.”
A junior guard, Buerge scored a game-high 24 points and hit four 3-pointers to lead Carl Junction, while classmate Burk added 13 points and drained three treys. A sophomore forward, Scott gave Carl Junction three players in double figures by scoring 11.
“I thought Destiny played outstanding and I thought Kylie played really well,” Shorter said. “A lot of our kids just played really well. And Klohe, Hali and Destiny rebounded their tails off.”
Caroline Cool scored 14 points and Aubrey Shaw added 13 for Blue Valley North.
Playing for the Lady Eagle Classic title is nothing new for the Bulldogs.
Carl Junction lost to Mount Vernon in last year’s title game after winning the event in 2019 and finishing as the runner-up in ’18. The Bulldogs won the tourney title in ’17.
“It’s been a different batch in the past years to play in the championship game here, but this group of kids is keeping the tradition going,” Shorter said. “That’s been huge for our program.”
FARMINGTON 71, JOPLIN 18
The Eagles simply ran into a formidable foe.
Hot-shooting Farmington (Ark.) hit four 3-pointers in the opening frame while also forcing Joplin into a number of turnovers with an aggressive full-court press.
The Cardinals led 20-1 out of the gates and the visitors held a comfortable 24-5 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Joplin received a free throw from Ella Hafer and two hoops from Brynn Driver, but treys from Allie Devescery and Carson Dillard extended Farmington’s lead to 33-10.
Farmington made eight 3-pointers in the first half and took a comfy 43-12 advantage into halftime.
The Cardinals took a commanding 60-16 lead into the final frame.
“They were a buzzsaw,” Eagles coach Luke Floyd said. “They shot the ball well, they passed the ball well and they defended well. They are very good. Everybody shot the ball really well. I don’t know what they shot from 3, but it had to be 50-60 percent. They are just a well-oiled machine and we had no answers for it.”
One positive for the Eagles is the fact they’ll play for third this year after falling in the fifth place game a year ago.
“I told the girls they need to have amnesia and just forget about this one,” Floyd said. “Tomorrow we need to come in and be the best version of us that we can be. We’ll try and come away with the third-place trophy.”
Driver scored six points to lead Joplin (5-2), while Izzy Yust and Hafer added three points apiece.
Dillard scored 17 points to lead the Cardinals, while Reese Shirey added 14. Thirteen different players scored in the game for Farmington.
NOTES: In consolation bracket games, Leavenworth defeated Blue Valley West 49-40 and Rogers beat Pea Ridge 44-38.
“There were times a lot last year that it happened the same way,” Carthage coach Nathan Morris said. “We didn’t start well and we had to fight back. I am never going to question the fight in our kids, but I told them that the first three minutes of basketball games have got to change for us. The days of getting in a 7-0 hole and having to call a timeout just aren’t going to cut it this year. We talked a lot about our guard leadership. We have got to be able to start a basketball game better than that.”
