BOLIVAR, Mo. — Kylie Scott and Destiny Buerge combined for 48 points and led Carl Junction’s girls basketball team to a 67-54 victory over Fatima at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Classic on Saturday at Southwest Baptist University.
Ranked fifth in Class 5 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, Carl Junction improved to 10-3.
A 6-foot-1 sophomore, Scott recorded a double-double with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Scott, who made 11 field goals, also had four steals.
A 5-7 junior guard, Buerge compiled 23 points, four rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. Buerge made seven field goals and 8-of-11 free throws.
Hali Shorter added seven points with two treys for the Bulldogs, while Dezi Williams and Ellie Lawson contributed five points apiece. Lawson contributed three boards and three assists.
Fatima (8-5) entered the contest ranked ninth in Class 4.
Led by 12 points from Scott, the Bulldogs led 23-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Carl Junction’s lead was 42-19 at halftime and 57-39 by the end of the third quarter.
Carl Junction will open Central Ozark Conference play at Carthage (6-7) on Tuesday.
The girls game is scheduled for 6 p.m., with a boys game to follow.
McAuley Catholic girls basketball took a six-point lead after the first quarter and never looked back in a 60-17 win over Lockwood on Saturday.
The Warriors (9-2) limited the Tigers to eight points combined in the second and third quarters to outscore Lockwood by 30 in the process. McAuley blanked Lockwood in the fourth quarter.
“Coming off of back to back losses to Galena (Kansas) and Wyandotte (Oklahoma), games in which we lost our identity and were physically outplayed, I challenged the girls to find themselves again and be the more aggressive team,” McAuley coach Mike Howard said to SoMo Sports. “They responded tremendously today. They were flying around on defense and forcing turnovers that led to transition baskets. We shared the ball well and trusted each other. When we can do that, we are at our best. I’m very proud of the way we responded today.”
Kayleigh Teeter led McAuley with a game-high 20 points. Avery Eminger was close behind with a career-high 18 points, while Kennedy DeRuy finished with nine. Kloee Williamson had seven points, while Lily Black finished with six.
Adrien Niell and Catlyn Clawson each finished with six points to lead Lockwood.
McAuley hosts Sheldon on Tuesday.
NATHAN HALE HOLDS ON AGAINST NEOSHO BOYS
LOCUST GROVE, Okla. — Nathan Hale built a slim margin in the first half and held on to the lead through the final horn to beat Neosho boys basketball 59-54 in the third-place game of the Locust Grove basketball tournament on Saturday.
Nathan Hale took a 31-30 lead into the intermission and outscored Neosho (10-4) by two in the third quarter and two more in the fourth quarter to hold on to the win.
K’dyn Waters led Neosho with 28 points, 15 coming in the first half of play. Carter Fenske finished with 12 points, all coming in the first half.
Neosho hosts Republic in Central Ozark Conference action on Tuesday.
LOCKWOOD BUILDS EARLY LEAD IN WIN OVER MCAULEY
Lockwood built a double-digit lead by halftime and held McAuley Catholic boys basketball to eight points in the second half on the way to a 50-25 win on Saturday.
The loss gives McAuley a 2-9 record on the season.
McAuley was led in scoring by Noah Black, who finished with seven points.
The championship game of the 2022 Kaminsky Classic proved the old saying is true — it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
Terrance Gibson’s steal and breakaway layup gave Joplin its first lead of the night with 52 seconds remaining, and two late free throws from Always Wright sealed the deal as the Eagles earned a 55-52 come-from-behind victory over Webb City on Saturday at Joplin High School.
Webb City led for more than 30 minutes of the rivalry clash, with Joplin holding the lead for just 52 seconds.
But for the hosts, the final score was all that mattered.
“We didn’t start well, but we played three good quarters of basketball,” Eagles coach Bronson Schaake said. “It wasn’t a pretty win. With the rivalry, we knew it was going to be a dogfight. We had to find the right chemistry to fire them up and that’s what we did. This atmosphere was really good tonight. And I know it’s been a while since Joplin has won this tournament, so this is something special.”
It’s Joplin’s first Kaminsky Classic championship since 2001.
After watching the Cardinals celebrate a tourney championship in 2021, the Eagles flipped the script this year.
“This feels great,” Gibson said. “We’ve worked hard in practice and we came out and did something today that a lot of people didn’t think we could do.”
It’s Joplin’s second tournament championship of the season, as the Eagles also won the Carthage Invitational.
FINAL FRAME
Joplin’s Always Wright looks to get past Webb City’s Cohl Vaden during the championship game of the Kaminsky Classic on Saturday at Joplin High School. Photo by Israel Perez.
The fourth quarter began with Webb City clinging to a 44-38 lead, and the game went down to the wire.
Bruce Wilbert and Gibson both had buckets early in the final frame for the Eagles, but the Cardinals responded with hoops from Dante Washington and Kaden Turner.
The game’s first tie came at 50-all after Always Wright’s jumper and Quin Renfro’s free throw.
Renfro was at the charity stripe in place of Gibson, who left the game after absorbing a hard foul on a layup attempt.
Washington hit a pull-up jumper just outside of the lane to give the Cardinals a two-point lead with 1:28 remaining, but it would be Webb City’s final points of the night.
All Wright went 1-for-2 at the foul line with 1:07 left to pull the hosts within one.
Next came the play of the game — one that swung the momentum in Joplin’s favor for good.
Webb City turned the ball over on an out of bounds play, as Gibson jumped into the passing lane, picked off the pass, streaked down the court and made a go-ahead layup with 52 seconds left on the clock.
“After I got hurt with that elbow to the head, I didn’t know if I could return,” Gibson said. “It really hurt. But my coach put me in because he had faith in me. They’d ran that play before and I knew it was an important play, so I went for it.”
Schaake noted Gibson came up big when crunch time arrived.
“He made a great read on the ball and then went down and finished it,” Schaake said. “That was the turning point. He really gave us some energy plays.”
Webb City’s Kaden Turner scores inside during the championship game of the Kaminsky Classic. Photo by Israel Perez.
The Cardinals did not get a shot up on their next possession, as the visitors turned it over with 20 seconds remaining after Turner came down with a lob on the out of bounds line under the hoop.
After a foul, Always Wright made two free throws to make it 55-52.
Webb City’s Max Higginbotham attempted a contested last-second 3-pointer, but it fell short.
After the first quarter, Joplin outscored Webb City 47-33. And the Eagles won the crucial fourth quarter 17-8.
“Our energy went up as the game went on,” Schaake said. “At the start of the game, I think we were looking around at the stands. This is the first time some of these guys have been part of this. We started chipping away in the second quarter. Webb City’s a really good team. They’ve got some good players, so you have to find a way to create some things…turnovers, deflections and rebounding. We did that.”
Webb City had seven turnovers and just four field goals in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we were in control of the game the whole time, but we lost our minds a little bit at the end,” Cardinals coach Jason Horn said. “We had some bad turnovers and they were able to capitalize. Joplin has two really good players who are hard to stop. On Tuesday we have to do a better job of closing things out. I think we’ll be a lot better on Tuesday.”
EARLIER ACTION
Joplin’s All Wright handles the ball against Webb City’s Cohl Vaden on Saturday at Joplin High School.
Looking to repeat as tourney champions, Webb City built an 11-point lead by the end of the first quarter, as Higginbotham’s drive through the lane gave the Cardinals a 19-8 advantage.
The Eagles began the second period on a 7-2 run, as Renfro contributed a hoop before Always Wright connected on a pair of jumpers.
A pair of hoops from Turner and Cohl Vaden’s hoop in transition gave the Cardinals a 27-17 advantage with 2:45 left in the first half, but the Eagles finished the second period on a 7-1 surge, trimming their deficit to four at the break.
A back-and-forth third period ended with Webb City clinging to a six-point lead.
“We had our chances to stretch the lead in the first half, but we didn’t capitalize on those opportunities,” Horn said. “I thought we had chances to stretch out the lead in the second half, too, but we just didn’t capitalize.”
NAMES & NUMBERS
Now receiving votes in the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association’s Class 6 poll, Joplin hiked its record to 10-1.
The Wright brothers combined for 41 of Joplin’s 55 points.
A senior guard, Always Wright scored a game-high 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He also had four steals.
A sophomore, All Wright contributed 18 points after making 7-of-22 field goal attempts.
Gibson had a team-high seven rebounds to go along with six points, none bigger than his final two.
“The Wrights did what they do,” Schaake said. “I thought Terrance made some big plays. I thought Quin Renfro and Bruce Wilbert made some big plays.”
The Eagles made 19-of-43 field goal attempts (44 percent). Joplin scored 19 points off Webb City’s 17 turnovers.
Ranked eighth in Class 5, Webb City fell to 8-3.
The Cardinals made 21-of-36 shots (58 percent), but went 1-for-7 on 3-pointers.
Turner led Webb City with 15 points and eight rebounds. Turner made 7 of 12 shots. Trey Roets contributed 13 points, while Washington added 11 points. Vaden had seven points and four assists. Webb City had 38 points in the paint to Joplin’s 20.
REMATCH IS TUESDAY
The Eagles will host the Cardinals at 7:30 on Tuesday night in the Central Ozark Conference opener inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.
Kaminsky Classic All Tournament Team
Always Wright—Joplin
All Wright—Joplin
Kevion Pendleton—Jefferson City
Gabe James—Francis Howell
Kaden Turner—Webb City
Cohl Vaden—Webb City
Darian Webb—Poplar Bluff
Dayne Herl—William Chrisman
Joplin’s Always Wright makes a layup against Webb City on Saturday in the championship game of the Kaminsky Classic. All photos by Israel Perez/SoMo Sports.
Webb City’s Cohl Vaden attempts a shot in the lane against Always Wright on Saturday. Joplin came from behind to beat Webb City 55-52.
With the game tied at 63-63 in overtime, Nevada’s Owen Swearingen drove to the hoop for a layup and drew a foul, sinking the ensuing and-1 free throw with three seconds remaining to send the Tigers to a 66-63 win over Carl Junction in the seventh-place game of the Kaminsky Classic on Saturday.
It is only fitting that a game that saw eight ties and 10 total lead changes would need an overtime period to decide a winner. Nevada got the scoring starting in overtime with a basket by Evan Rea before Carl Junction’s Kyler Perry buried a 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 57-56 advantage with 2:38 to play.
Cade Beshore answered with a bucket to give Nevada the lead back before Leo Gayman knocked down a 3-pointer to push the Tigers’ lead to four with 90 seconds left. Nevada remained in front until CJ’s Jett Hocut tied the game up with a jumper with 20 seconds left.
Nevada shot 43 percent from the field in the win and was led by Rea’s game-high 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting. He had four rebounds, two assists and five steals. Brice Budd scored 11 points, had three rebounds and three assists. Beshore finished with eight points, while Swearingen finished with six points and five rebounds. Gayman had five points and eight rebounds.
Carl Junction had three players finish in double figures, with Perry’s 22 on 8-of-15 shooting leading the way. Perry made four 3-pointers, while adding four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Josh Cory finished with 15 points and four rebounds. Ayden Bard added 11 points and nine rebounds.
WILLIAM CHRISMAN PULLS AWAY FROM FRANCIS HOWELL IN 3RD-PLACE GAME
Francis Howell held a nine-point lead by the intermission only to see William Chrisman rally down the stretch to earn a 58-49 win in the Kaminsky Classic third-place game on Saturday.
William Chrisman (9-3) limited Francis Howell (9-6) to 30 percent shooting from the field in the third quarter and 18 percent in the fourth quarter. The Bears outscored the Vikings 20-10 in the fourth quarter.
William Chrisman won the battle in the paint 28-16, with the Bears bench outpacing the Vikings’ 28-6.
William Chrisman was led in scoring by Dayne Herl, who finished with 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting. He added 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks to finish with a double-double. Ralph Covington added 11 points and eight rebounds, while Jesse Minter finished with 10 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
Gabe James led Francis Howell with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting, to go along with five rebounds, four steals and two assists. Dwight Lomax Jr. added 10 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds. Booker Simmons finished with nine points and five rebounds.
POPLAR BLUFF TAKES DOWN JEFFERSON CITY IN 5TH-PLACE GAME
Poplar Bluff built a double-digit lead by halftime and held on down the stretch to earn the win in the fifth-place game on Saturday.
The Mules (10-3) took a three-point lead and outscored the Jays (6-7) by nine in the second period to take a 37-25 into the intermission. Jefferson City cut the lead to eight by the start of the fourth quarter and got as close as three points of the lead, 59-56, with two minutes left before Poplar Bluff pulled back out in front with free throws to close out the win.
Darius Graham led Poplar Bluff with 13 points, while Gavin Rivers finished with 12 points and five steals. Darian Webb had 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Gage Rivers had 10 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
Poplar Bluff had the advantage in paint points (38-30), points off turnovers (23-11), second-chance points (20-12) and points on the break (18-8).
