NEOSHO, Mo. — The Neosho girls basketball team is back in the championship game of their home tournament for the first time since 2016 after their 58-44 win over Memphis Whitehaven (Tenn.) on Thursday at Neosho Junior High.
Neosho scored the game’s first nine points, Whitehaven never led and it was only a tie game for three seconds total, and Whitehaven could not get better than a nine-point deficit (50-41, 52-43) in the fourth quarter.
Neosho improved to 7-4 overall and the Wildcats draw the formidable Fort Smith Northside Grizzlies, defending tournament champions, at 3:30 p.m. on Friday at Neosho High School.
“I am very, very pleased,” Neosho coach Daniel Durst said. “We did falter a bit in the third, which is common for us, but I say that we held it together better than normal and that served us well in the fourth quarter. We came back alive and finished it off.”
The Wildcats picked up Thursday right where they left off from Wednesday’s comeback 52-48 win over Van Buren (Ark), when they erased an 11-point deficit with the game’s final 15 points in the final three minutes.
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That did roll over for us and the girls are just starting to build more and more confidence as we go,” Durst said. “It’s translating to better and better play and more wins. This (Whitehaven) was a great test for us. I’m super proud of them.”
The Wildcats maintained two advantages that fed into their 14-point win: a 34-14 advantage in points in the paint and a 21-6 advantage in made free throws.
“We actually had a conversation at our walk-through about pounding the ball inside,” Durst said. “I thought we really had an advantage there, and I said let’s get to the free throw line. Score when the clock’s stopped.”
Senior post Karlee Ellick, fellow senior Reagan McInturff, and sophomore guard Beclynn Garrett combined for 49 points Thursday.
Ellick, who proved responsible for the majority of those points in the paint, finished with a game-high 24 points and she had eight rebounds, three assists, and three blocks.
McInturff added 13 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks.
Garrett tallied 12 points, seven rebounds, and one assist in 31 minutes.
Ellick, McInturff, and Garrett alone shot a combined 21-24 from the stripe (87.5 percent) with each player missing only a single free throw (Garrett 8-9, McInturff 7-8, Ellick 6-7).
The Wildcats set an early tone by going to the line first only five seconds in and they already had six free throw attempts within the first 48 seconds of the game.
Maelynn Garrett finished with five points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while fellow senior Raine Harris added four points, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Jeurnei Wright led Whitehaven (8-2) with 15 points, 14 of which she had as the Tigers outscored Neosho 30-25 in the second half.
In order to earn their first Neosho Holiday Classic title since 2014, the Wildcats will have to go through one of the absolute powerhouse Arkansas girls basketball programs in Fort Smith Northside, who defeated St. Joseph Lafayette 58-32 on Thursday and Stoutland 57-15 on Wednesday in their first two Holiday Classic games.
“Very, very excited,” Durst said. “It’s been since 2016 these girls have done that. We’re pumped and ready to go.
“They’re (Northside) going to be a tough, tough team to beat. We can do it, but we’re going to have to play really hard. I’m hoping that the energy from this game leaks over and gets us started tomorrow like it did today.”
Crooked Oak (Okla.) boys 77, Neosho 49
The host Wildcats will not repeat as Black Division champions, as they endured a rough 28-point semifinal loss on Thursday with the Ruf-Nex from Oklahoma City outscoring Neosho 38-13 in the first and fourth quarters, including 19-5 in the first.
Neosho led for 61 seconds, and the game was tied for 51 seconds.
Crooked Oak led for just over 30 minutes.
Cranking up the defensive pressure in the third quarter, Neosho made it a 49-39 game before Crooked Oak closed out the quarter with 9 of the final 11 points to stretch the lead to 58-41 entering the fourth.
“When you’re down that much and you have to fight that hard to get back, you just run out of gas,” Neosho coach Zane Culp said. “I felt like energy wise, (Carter) Baslee, Isaiah Green, and Brock (Franklin) brought it. They had to play every minute hard, and they ran out of gas.”
Neosho (7-2 overall) will play for third against Monett at noon Friday at Neosho High School.
“That’s what I told them,” Culp said. “You have an option: You can lay down or you can show up tomorrow at noon and avenge yourself. There’s not really any other option.”
Neosho defeated Monett 48-33 back on Dec. 13.
On Thursday, Green finished with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Carter Fenske had 12 points, Kael Smith 11 points and five rebounds, and Baslee added eight points, four rebounds, and two blocks.
Tymie Adkins-Freeman, Elijah Garcia, and Daevion Hill combined for 66 of Crooked Oak’s 77 points — Adkins-Freeman a game-high 24 points behind 12 made free throws, Hill 22 points along with 13 rebounds and three blocks, and Garcia 20 points sparked by six trifectas.
The Ruf-Nex are ranked fifth in Oklahoma Class 3 by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA).
68th annual Neosho Holiday Classic
Thursday’s scores
Maumelle (Ark.) 72, Memphis Mitchell (Tenn.) 58
Sapulpa (Okla.) 72, McDonald County 66
Morrilton (Ark.) 66, St. Joseph Lafayette 42
Huntsville (Ark.) 44, Monett 41
Cassville 55, East Newton 52 (OT)
Fort Smith Northside (Ark.) girls 58, Lafayette 32
Cypress Falls (Texas) 45, Bentonville (Ark.) 36
Neosho girls 58, Memphis Whitehaven (Tenn.) 44
Crooked Oak (Okla.) 77, Neosho 49
Van Buren (Ark.) girls 40, Stoutland 24
Atascocita (Texas) 60, Van Buren (Ark.) 55
Friday’s games
at Neosho High School
Sapulpa vs. Cassville, 9 a.m.
Morrilton (Ark.) vs. Maumelle (Ark.), 10:30 a.m.
Neosho vs. Monett, Noon
Van Buren (Ark.) vs. Bentonville (Ark.), 1:30 p.m.
Neosho girls vs. Fort Smith Northside (Ark.), 3:30 p.m.
Huntsville (Ark.) vs. Crooked Oak (Okla.), 5 p.m.
Atascocita (Texas) vs. Cypress Falls (Texas), 6:30 p.m.
at Neosho Junior High
McDonald County vs. East Newton, 9 a.m.
Lafayette vs. Memphis Mitchell (Tenn.), 10:30 a.m.
Lafayette girls vs. Stoutland, Noon
Van Buren (Ark.) girls vs. Memphis Whitehaven (Tenn.), 1:30 p.m.
Up four at the end of the first quarter, Webb City trailed 25-24 at halftime.