Carl Junction and Carthage finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the final team standings at the Harrisonville Holiday Wrestling Tournament on Saturday.
Helias took first with a team score of 880, while Marlow (Okla.) was second with 839 and Willard took third (782).
Carl Junction had a team score of 675.5, while Carthage was fifth with a 558.
Webb City took 12th with a team score of 455. There were 32 teams in attendance.
CARL JUNCTION HIGHLIGHTS
Carl Junction’s Lukas Walker was the champion at 113 pounds. He pinned Monett’s Simon Hartline in the title match.
Carter Foglesong was the runner-up at 106. Willard’s Shawn Lang defeated Foglesong 2-0 in the title bout.
Sam Melton placed third at 120 pounds, while Chance Benford was third at 182 and Kameron Bennett took third at 285.
Also for the Bulldogs, Tony Stewart placed fourth at 160, Cayden Bollinger finished fifth at 220 and Braxten Jones was seventh at 152.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Carthage’s Eli Sneed was the champion at 138 pounds. He went 6-0, with four wins by fall. Sneed defeated St. Joseph Benton’s Ethan Nash 14-4 in the title match.
Davion King was the runner-up at 160 pounds. King won five matches by fall before the title bout, where he dropped a 3-1 overtime decision to Willard’s Gary Walker.
Bradyn Tate finished third at 126 pounds, while Braxdon Tate was third at 152.
Also for the Tigers, Grey Petticrew finished fourth at 145, Christian Brown was fifth at 120 and Gabe Lambeth took seventh at 170.
WEBB CITY HIGHLIGHTS
Colt Taylor placed fifth at 126 pounds, while Liam Taylor was seventh at 182 and Javon White took eighth at 195.
The Joplin High School girls swim team placed third at the Monett Invitational on Saturday.
“We are down a few swimmers due to illness, injury, and holiday break,” Eagles coach Juliana Hughes said. “However, the girls who competed today set some goals and achieved them. I couldn’t be more proud of their efforts.”
The 200-yard medley relay team of Mairi Beranek, Taegen Smith, Allie Lawrence and Emma Langer finished second and swam a state-consideration time.
Additionally, the team’s 400 freestyle relay team consisting of Lawrence, Sophia Schwartz, Lily Rakes, and Langer took second place.
The 200 freestyle relay team recorded a state-consideration time earlier this season, with Lawrence, Schwartz, Rakes, and Langer competing. They took fourth place at Saturday’s event.
As far as individual events, Lawrence won the 100 butterfly, while Langer took third in the 200 individual medley and Beranek placed third in the 100 backstroke.
Also for the Eagles, Smith finished fifth in the 100 breaststroke, Rakes was fifth in the 500 freestyle and seventh in the 200 freestyle, while Megan Walser finished seventh in the 200 IM and eighth in the 500 free.
Joplin is scheduled to compete at Nevada on Dec. 28.
WEBB CITY, Mo. — A fast start led to a double-digit lead by halftime before Joplin put the game away with a dominant third quarter in a 59-36 win over Sunrise Christian on Saturday in the 4-States Challenge hosted by Webb City.
Joplin’s Always Wright flies to the rim for a layup in the Eagles’ win over Sunrise Christian in the 4-States Challenge hosted by Webb City on Saturday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
The Eagles, who hold a perfect 7-0 record to start the season after winning their second game in as many days following a 66-56 win over Springfield Central on Friday, jumped out to an 11-point lead after the first quarter thanks to a strong start from Always and All Wright. Joplin took a 30-17 lead into the second half before outscoring Sunrise Christian 24-8 in the third quarter to build an insurmountable lead with eight minutes to play.
“It was a good win after a tough game last night,” Joplin coach Bronson Schaake said. “That was a fast-paced game and their legs could have been dead but we came out, and I don’t know what the first-quarter score was, but it seemed like we were kind of on point. I rotated some more guys in to try to keep our legs fresh. And we guarded well and we shot it well.”
The Wright brothers had their hands all over the first quarter for Joplin, combining to score 13 of the team’s points in a 17-6 opening period. The Eagles started the game with senior guard Always Wright knocking down a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key before finding sophomore G All Wright in the corner for a 3-pointer.
After buckets from junior F Terrance Gibson and senior F LT Atherton, Joplin closed the first quarter with Always Wright sinking a stepback jumper on the baseline before All Wright grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback with 30 seconds left to give Joplin the 11-point lead.
“They are always locked in,” Schaake said before accidentally sending my phone flying out of my hand across the floor and apologizing repeatedly. “They are locked in even before we are on the bus to get here. They are smart kids and they read the game really well. They know what to take.”
Joplin closed the first half on a 9-4 run fueled by a pair of baskets from Gibson and five points from senior G Bruce Wilbert, including a 3-pointer, to send the Eagles into the intermission with a 30-17 lead.
Joplin’s Terrance Gibson dunks the ball in the Eagles win over Sunrise Christian on Saturday at the 4-States Challenge. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
The 13-point advantage was pushed to 20 out of the break, with Joplin starting the second half on a 7-0 run. Gibson started the second half with a pair of buckets inside before Always Wright drew contact on a floater and made the ensuing and-1 free throw with 6:46 on the clock to make the score 37-17.
“We always write two minutes on the board,” Schaake said. “When you come out of halftime, it’s the most important time of the game. … We were up 13, I believe, at the half and we just kept building on it.”
“When he goes, we go,” Schaake added about Gibson’s play in the win. “As far as being active on the boards, setting good screens and when he can get out in transition he is really good. He is starting to figure out how to jump some lanes and get steals. When he is locked in and ready, we’re tough.”
Leading 45-25 with less than two and a half minutes to play, the Eagles closed out the third quarter even stronger than they started—putting the game out of reach with a 9-0 run to balloon the cushion to 54-25 to start the final eight minutes.
“We tried to rotate more guys, but I told them to go get a 30 spot and a running clock,” Schaake said of his team’s play in their second game in two nights. “They need to start having that mentality of just keep building. I was impressed. We came in early today and got stretched out. They were locked in and ready to play.”
All Wright started the run with a bucket before Always Wright earned a steal for a fast-break layup the other way, drawing contact. The and-1 free throw was no good, but senior C Calvin Clark was there for the offensive board and putback bucket to push the lead to 51-25. Always Wright capped the run with his second 3-pointer of the quarter.
SCORING LEADERS
Always Wright led the way for Joplin with a game-high 21 points, 11 coming in the third quarter. Gibson finished in double figures with 12 points, while All Wright had nine and Wilbert eight points.
Andres Lopera led Sunrise Christian with 13 points, while Marquis Williams had eight points in the loss.
WEBB CITY, Mo. — Everyone got into the act as the Webb City Cardinals cruised to a 93-69 victory over the Parsons Vikings on Saturday night in the finale of the 4-States Challenge inside the Cardinal Dome.
Fourteen different players scored for the Cardinals, who improved to 5-1 on the season with a lopsided non-conference win.
Webb City took control of this one early. The Cardinals raced out to a 41-19 halftime lead and extended their lead to 30 early in the second half. With that, Webb City coach Jason Horn got all of his reserves plenty of playing time in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we did a good job of coming out aggressive early,” Horn said. “I thought we did a good job sharing the ball, and defensively, we were able to get them sped up a little bit. We got some runouts and overwhelmed their guards a bit. Anytime you can get off to a good start and get in a good flow, shots are going to fall a little better.”
Webb City’s Kaden Turner scores inside during Saturday’s game with Parsons inside the Cardinal Dome. Turner scored 15 points to lead the Cardinals. Photos by Shawn Fowler.
Four players scored in double figures for the Cardinals, as Kaden Turner and Barron Duda led the way with 15 points apiece. Dupree Jackson and Trey Roets added 10 points apiece, while Dante Washington and Holton Keith each added eight.
Horn noted it was nice to get everyone on the roster plenty of minutes.
“We’re still trying to figure out our rotations,” Horn said. “We’ve got a good idea of who our top seven are. We’re looking to see who’s going to slide into that eighth spot. We tried to get a lot of guys in tonight to see what they can do. We’re still early in the season and we haven’t practiced a ton together as a group, so this was a good opportunity to see some different guys in different spots on the floor for us.”
The Cardinals made 37 of 68 field-goal attempts (54 percent). Webb City forced Parsons into 28 turnovers, many of which led directly to layups.
The Vikings (0-7), who shot 42 percent (25 of 59), were led by Jesse Jones’ 17 points.
Webb City was able to pull away early in the game by converting turnovers into hoops in transition. The Cardinals used a 12-0 run to take a 17-4 lead into the second quarter.
Webb City senior guard Cohl Vaden looks to score in the lane against Parsons on Saturday at the 4-States Challenge.
Turner scored 10 of Webb City’s first 12 points of the second period to extend his team’s lead to 29-8.
Hoops from Cohl Vaden and Jackson pushed Webb City’s lead past 20 at 33-11. By the break, the Cardinals held a comfortable 41-19 advantage.
The hosts began the third quarter on an 11-3 run and Jackson’s steal and layup pushed the Webb City lead to 52-22.
The Cardinals were up 63-38 by the end of the third quarter and the team’s starting lineup took the final frame off.
“I thought we got a little lackadaisical on defense in the second half, but overall, I thought we played well,” Horn said. “Everybody scored. At times we were too unselfish. But these guys don’t worry about who leads us in scoring. They’re an unselfish group.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Webb City is at Rogers Heritage on Tuesday night.
After Christmas, Webb City will take on Holland Hall at the 12 Courts of Christmas event at 4 p.m. on Dec. 29 at Hy-Vee Arena in Kansas City.
WEBB CITY, Mo. — After watching a double-digit lead vanish in the second half in a double-overtime win over Springfield Central on Tuesday, Carthage wasn’t about to allow history to repeat itself in a 51-44 win over Rogers (Arkansas) on Saturday in the 4-States Challenge hosted by Webb City.
The Tigers improved to 5-1 after a strong surge to the first half led to a double-digit advantage in the second half. The Mounties made a run at the lead late, but Carthage staved off the comeback attempt to earn its second win of the week.
“That shows that the maturity day by day is there,” Carthage coach Nathan Morris said. “I told the guys that for us to have briefly touched on our 2-3 zone (on defense) and then have them sit in it at the end of the first half and the entire second half is huge for this group. It just shows how much they wanted to battle, being able to make some winning plays at the end to finish that out.”
To say the first half between the Tigers (5-1) and Mounties was a seesaw battle would be an understatement. There were 10 lead changes and two ties in the first half, but Carthage rallied to close the first half on a 9-0 run over the final three minutes to take a 29-22 lead into the intermission.
“We finally started getting downhill,” Morris said of his team’s run to close the half. “They are an extremely aggressive half-court team. … They fight every passing lane and they fight through screens. It took us a little bit to trust ourselves and get downhill. When Max started attacking and started screening bodies, I think that was the difference in the first half.”
Max Templeman opened the surge with a 3-pointer before Joel Pugh converted the and-1 free throw for a three-point play after pulling down an offensive rebound and scoring on the putback. Pugh closed the run with a 3-ball in the corner off the assist from Tyler Willis.
Carthage pushed its lead to double digits for the first time in the second half with Pugh splashed home a perimeter shot from the wing to make the score 36-26 with 6:02 on the clock. The Tigers ultimately took a 39-31 advantage into the fourth quarter.
The Mounties made a run at the lead twice in the final eight minutes, but were never able to get closer than two possessions before the Tigers would respond.
Will Liddell knocked down two free throws to cap a 6-0 run by Rogers to cut the lead to 41-37 with six minutes left before Carthage’s Clay Kinder scored inside on the inbounds and drilled a corner 3-pointer on the next trip to push the lead back to nine, 46-37, with five minutes left.
“Clay is getting more comfortable every game,” Morris said. “This is very similar to Clay on JV last year. It took him a while but once he started to feel good, he got rolling. That is something you can say of Clay, he is never scared of the moment. He made a huge corner 3 when we were reeling just a little bit.”
Rex Krout brought the Mounties to wishing four again after he connected from the perimeter before scoring off the drive to cut the lead to 46-42 with 2:50 on the clock.
One again, the Tigers responded. Kinder knocked down two free throws before Liddell found room on the drive to make the score 48-44. The Tigers sank three of four free throws inside the final minute to seal the win.
SCORING LEADERS
The Tigers finished with three players in double figures, as Templeman and Pugh led Carthage with 14 points each. Templeman had 10 in the first half, while Pugh knocked down three 3-pointers to lead the perimeter scoring. Kinder added 12 points in the win, seven coming in the fourth quarter.
Krout led all scorers with 18 points, 12 coming in the second half. Liddell had 11 points for Rogers.
UP NEXT
Carthage takes part in the Hy-Vee Holiday Shootout from Dec. 20-22.
