VERONA, Mo. — Second-seeded College Heights Christian made more winning plays down the stretch and the Cougars upended third-seeded Marionville 52-47 on Monday night in a semifinal contest of the Class 2 District 12 girls basketball tournament at Verona High School.
“Marionville is a great team,” College Heights coach John Blankenship said. “This was a great win for us tonight. We had a strong second quarter, scoring 19 points, and our defense really stepped up holding them to eight points in the quarter. Marionville’s coach did a great job of keeping her kids in the game. They played extremely well and tied the game in the fourth quarter. It was close down the stretch. Our defense got a couple of key stops late in the fourth quarter that were instrumental in securing the win. I couldn’t be more proud of my team. They work hard, they are coachable and our team unity is great. They are such a fun group to coach.”
With the win, the Cougars (15-10) will meet No. 1 seed Miller (22-3) at 6 p.m. on Thursday in the district championship game.
“Our reward for winning will be to play Miller, who is ranked third in the state for Class 2,” Blankenship noted. “It will be a difficult matchup for us, but we’re excited just to be in the championship game with such a young team. We are grateful for the opportunity.”
Libby Fanning once again had a double-double for the Cougars, as the freshman recorded 15 points and 14 rebounds. Addie Lawrence contributed 11 points for CHC, while Jayli Johnson compiled nine points, six steals and five assists.
Maddy Colin contributed eight points, six rebounds and three assists for CHC, while Molly Long chipped in eight points and seven rebounds.
In Monday’s other semifinal, Miller rolled past fourth-seeded Wheaton 61-18.
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Carl Junction nearly erased a 16-point deficit in the second half, but the spirited comeback attempt fell short.
Despite a valiant effort, the Bulldogs suffered a 70-59 setback to Nixa on Monday night in Central Ozark Conference girls basketball action.
In their regular season and home finale, the Bulldogs found themselves trailing by 16 in the third period to the league-leading Eagles.
But Carl Junction didn’t quit. Instead, the Bulldogs put together a furious 15-0 surge to pull within one with just over five minutes to play.
However, Nixa never relinquished its lead, as the Eagles closed the game on a 24-14 spurt.
Bulldogs coach Brad Shorter was definitely pleased with his team’s tenacity.
“I love how our girls didn’t give up,” Shorter said. “They just kept fighting. They did everything they could to stay in the ballgame. We started making plays and I loved how our kids kept fighting. That’s going to help us down the road.”
Ranked seventh in Class 5 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, Carl Junction ends the regular season at 19-7 and 6-3 in the COC.
Pictured is Carl Junction junior guard Destiny Buerge. Buerge scored 27 points for the Bulldogs on Monday against Nixa. File photo by Shawn Fowler for SoMo Sports.
Junior guard Destiny Buerge poured in 27 points to lead the Bulldogs. Buerge, who has already surpassed 1,500 career points, made eight field goals, including two 3-pointers, to go with nine free throws.
Sophomore forward Kylie Scott added 13 points, while freshman forward Dezi Williams contributed 11 points and junior guard Hali Shorter had nine points on three treys.
Ranked fourth in Class 6, Nixa hiked its record to 21-4 and 8-0 in the COC.
Four players scored in double figures for the Eagles, as Macie Conway scored 23, Norah Clark had 17, Ali Kamies scored 15 and Rhianna Gibbons contributed 12.
The Eagles can complete an undefeated run through the COC with a win against Neosho on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs hung tough early, as the hosts trailed 16-15 at the end of a fast-paced first quarter.
Nixa’s aggressive full-court pressure defense took its toll on the Bulldogs in the second period. The Eagles forced CJ into numerous turnovers and outscored the hosts 17-3 in the game-changing frame to take a 33-18 halftime advantage.
Carl Junction played a large part of the second quarter without Buerge, who went to the bench with two fouls.
“The second quarter definitely hurt us,” Shorter said. “When Destiny is off the floor we turn it over more. The frustrating part is we didn’t do a very good job of running our press-breaker. Once we did, we were able to get some easy buckets. But Nixa’s defense is awfully strong.”
The teams traded hoops for a large part of the third quarter, and Nixa went up 46-30.
But that’s when the Bulldogs got going.
Carl Junction scored the final eight points of the third quarter, as Buerge scored in the lane, Hali Shorter drilled a 3-pointer and Williams contributed a hoop inside and a free throw.
Nixa’s lead was 46-38 entering the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs rattled off the first seven points of the final frame, as Buerge buried a trey, scored on a strong drive through the lane and made 2-of-4 foul shots.
Buerge’s free throw cut her team’s deficit to one with just over five minutes to play.
Nixa’s Kamies stopped the run by knocking down a 3-pointer.
Buege hit two more shots at the charity stripe to keep it a one-possession game, but the Eagles went on an 8-2 run to gain enough separation to hold off the hosts down the stretch.
Carl Junction kept coming, as a trey from Shorter cut Nixa’s lead to 62-57 with 39 seconds remaining.
The Eagles went 8-for-8 at the foul line late in the game.
“We just couldn’t close it out,” Coach Shorter said. “That’s something we have to continue to work on. When we have a lead or when we’re down by a few, we need to be able to get the possession that we want. It’s going to be possession basketball from here on out. But it’s great for us to be in games like this against a quality team.”
DISTRICT TOURNEY AWAITS
Carl Junction is the No. 1 seed for the Class 5 District 6 tournament.
The Bulldogs take on No. 8 Hillcrest at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Willard High School.
With a win, Carl Junction would meet either No. 4 Parkview or No. 5 Neosho in the semifinals on Feb. 28. As far as a possible matchup in the title game, Willard is the No. 2 seed, with Webb City seeded third.
Under Coach Shorter’s direction, Carl Junction has earned a district championship in six straight seasons.
The Bulldogs would love to extend the streak to seven this winter.
“Games like this and games in the COC prepare us for the district tournament,” Shorter said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do…one game at a time and all those cliches. But that’s how we look at it. We have to get ready for Hillcrest. We have to clean up some things and keep fighting. I’m proud of our kids. They’ve worked hard and they’ve gotten better this season. And they’re really fun to coach. Hopefully we can make a push in the postseason.”
Third-seeded Thomas Jefferson jumped out to a big lead early and never looked back in a district-opening win against Bronaugh on Monday as the hosts of the Class 1 District 5 tournament.
The Cavaliers (19-6) scored the game’s first 16 points and limited the Wildcats to three in the opening period to take control of the contest. Thomas Jefferson held a 42-21 lead by the intermission and put the game away in the third after pushing the lead to 31 points.
“I thought our kids came out strong and never really looked back,” TJ coach Chris Myers said to SoMo Sports. “It was a good opening-round win, but our focus is now on Lockwood.”
Caden Myers had 22 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead Thomas Jefferson in scoring. Jay Ball had 15 points and 13 rebounds to finish with a double-double, while Tyler Brouhard had 11 points, eight rebounds, six steals and four assists in the win. Luke Miller added nine and Drew Goodhope eight.
Eli Griffiths and Strauss Banes each scored 10 points to lead Bronaugh.
Thomas Jefferson takes on second-seeded Lockwood (18-8) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the semifinals. Lockwood defeated seventh-seeded Everton 55-10.
MCAULEY BOYS 59, SHELDON 41
Fourth-seeded McAuley Catholic built an early lead and played add-on on the way to a Class 1 District 5 opening-round win over fifth-seeded Sheldon on Monday at Thomas Jefferson Independent High School.
The Warriors (7-20) built a five-point lead after the first eight minutes of action before taking a 27-21 lead into the intermission. McAuley pushed the lead into insurmountable territory in the third quarter, outscoring Sheldon 22-8 to balloon the lead to 20.
Noah Black led McAuley with 22 points, while Rocco Bazzano-Joseph finished with 16 points for the Warriors.
Shon Bogart had 13 points to lead Sheldon.
McAuley takes on top-seeded Golden City at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
OZARK BOYS 83, NEOSHO 63
OZARK, Mo. — Ozark rode a strong second half to an 83-63 win over Neosho on Monday night in Central Ozark Conference action.
The Wildcats led 17-15 at the end of the first quarter, and the visitors held a 32-29 lead at intermission.
The Tigers outscored the Wildcats 54-31 in the second half. Ozark won the third period 28-13 and then won the fourth quarter 26-18.
“I’m proud of our guys’ effort tonight,” Neosho coach Zane Culp said. “They went out and competed really hard and played 20 minutes of really good basketball. Every person stepped up when we needed it tonight.”
Isaiah Green scored 12 points for the Wildcats, while Carter Baslee and Carter Fenske added 11 points apiece. Kael Smith contributed 10 points and Jared Siler had eight. Neosho played without K’dyn Waters.
Ethan Whatley scored 26 points for Ozark, while Tyler Harmon added 19.
Neosho (16-9, 3-5 COC) concludes the regular season at Joplin on Tuesday night.
Joplin girls basketball sent its senior girls off on a high note, pulling away from Neosho in the fourth quarter on the way to a 40-26 win over the Wildcats on Monday inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.
Joplin senior Brooke Nice knocks down a shot from the perimeter in the Eagles’ win over Neosho on Monday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
The Eagles (11-14, 2-7 COC) trailed early before rallying to take a lead by halftime. Joplin gained separation in the third quarter and pulled away from the Wildcats (8-17, 0-8 COC) for a Central Ozark Conference win on Senior Night.
“The most important thing tonight was getting the win,” Joplin coach Luke Floyd said. “It was kind of a slow start but that is to be expected on Senior Night. There was a little bit of a lull, but I thought the girls did a great job in the second quarter of coming back and getting the lead. We calmed down the nerves and started taking care of the ball to pull away in the second half. Defensively, I thought we played great all night.”
SENIOR NIGHT
The Eagles honored three student-athletes with Senior Night ceremonies—Ella Hafer, Emma Floyd and Brooke Nice.
“I thought Emma said it really well in her Senior Night introduction,” said Coach Floyd, who is in his second season at the helm of Joplin. “These girls have been extremely welcoming to our family. When you are a junior or senior and a new coach comes in, it’s easy to ignore them and do things the way that they’ve been doing them. But, they have bought in from Day 1, work hard every day and set a great example for our kids. As we continue to build our program, these three seniors are who our team can look up to and model themselves after in the years to come.”
GAME ACTION
Neosho opened the game with the momentum, jumping out to an 11-2 run over the first six minutes of action. Karlee Ellick started the run and closed the run with a pair of inside scores, while Beclynn Garrett added a 3-pointer and a mid-range jumper and Raine Harris scored in the paint to fill out the early surge.
Joplin responded by closing out the quarter outscoring Neosho 7-2, with Riley Kelly scoring inside and Nice knocking down a corner 3-pointer, to trim the deficit to 13-9 heading into the second period.
The Eagles took the lead for the first time 15-13 when Nice and Brynn Driver knocked down consecutive 3-balls with 4:20 left to play in the second quarter. Joplin carried that two-point cushion into the intermission, 23-21.
Joplin got hot late in the third period, closing on an 8-2 run to push the margin to 31-24 to start the fourth quarter. Nice closed the third with a 3-ball off an inbounds pass with 30 seconds left before sinking another perimeter shot with five seconds left on the clock.
“Once we started going inside out to Brooke and she was able to knock down some shots, it really opened up the rest of the offense,” Coach Floyd said. “She is such a good ball player and she really opens things up for us like that.”
The Eagles continued to separate from the Wildcats in the fourth quarter by forcing Neosho into a rash of turnovers with a full-court press out of the break that turned into a 9-0 run for Joplin at the other end, pushing the lead to 40-24 with three minutes to play.
“It was nice to be on the other side of the turnover barrage for once,” Coach Floyd said. “It created momentum for us. We should get confidence from our defense. Once we started turning them over in the press, that is when our offense got a lot better.”
Hafer and Nice had transition layups, while Driver knocked down a 3-pointer off an inbounds pass and Emma Floyd pulled down an offensive rebound for a putback score.
Joplin senior Emma Floyd contests a short in the Eagles’ win over Neosho on Monday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
SCORING LEADERS
Nice led Joplin with 14 points, while Driver finished in double figures with 10 points. Hafer closed with nine and Emma Floyd finished with four points.
Ellick scored 12 points to lead Neosho, while Garrett closed with seven points in the loss.
UP NEXT
Joplin hosts McDonald County at 6 p.m. on Tuesday to wrap the regular season.
Neosho travels to Nixa on Tuesday night before taking on Parkview at 11:30 p.m. at Willard High School in the Class 5 District 6 opening round on Saturday.
Joplin senior Ella Hafer backs down her opponent during the Eagles’ win over Neosho on Monday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
