Day: December 31, 2022

NEOSHO, Mo. — Neosho coach Zane Culp laid it out plain and simple for the Wildcats after their disappointing 77-49 loss Thursday against Crooked Oak (Okla.) in the semifinals of the 68th annual Neosho Holiday Classic.

During his postgame interview, Culp said that he told his players they can either lay down or show up at noon on Friday and avenge themselves.

The Wildcats definitely showed up at noon on Friday and they avenged themselves with a 54-41 win over Monett for third place in the Black Division of their home tournament.

Monett led 2-0 and 4-2 early on, but Neosho went on an astonishing 21-0 scoring run on the way to a 23-7 lead after one quarter.

“The guys came out with a lot of energy,” Culp said. “We talked about how we felt we played very below our standards defensively (Thursday). We just talked about every bucket they take better be the hardest bucket they’ve ever taken in their lives. They kind of clung to that and did a good job.”

Senior bench contributor Michael Day scored all eight of his points and fellow senior Isaiah Green added five more during that 21-0 stretch.

The Wildcats made 10 out of 13 shots in the first eight minutes and needless to say, they could not keep that nearly 77 percent shooting clip for the entire game.

Neosho finished 21-45 overall (46.7 percent) from the floor in the contest, a number hurt by a 2-13 performance (15.4 percent) from 3-point range.

The Wildcats owned a 36-16 advantage inside the paint, 22-1 in points off turnovers, 14-0 off the fast break, and 8-0 in bench points.

“A lot of those turnovers, I think maybe one was off a press, the rest were just digging in and playing really good half-court defense,” Culp said. “Kael Smith really set the tone early. He poked away a couple balls, blocked a shot, and dove on the floor. He’s one of our best players. He’s one of our leaders, and to see him set the tone right off the bat like ‘This is what we’re doing today,’ that was really good to see.”

All-tournament selection Green recorded his second double-double of the tournament and he accomplished this one with 15 points and 10 assists to go alongside his 13 points and 11 rebounds Wednesday against Cassville.

Green needed three rebounds Friday for a triple-double and he added three steals and one blocked shot in 32 minutes of play.

Slam dunk competition winner Carter Baslee joined his fellow senior in double-double territory with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Smith finished with 11 points and six rebounds, while Brock Franklin and Carter Fenske each scored four points.

Monett cut Neosho’s lead down to 47-41 with 2:27 remaining, but the Wildcats buckled down both defensively and offensively and scored the game’s final seven points.

Blaine Salsman and Jason Garner led Monett with 16 and 11 points, respectively.

Neosho improved to 8-2 overall and the Wildcats are back in action Jan. 3 against their Newton County rival East Newton.

“The boys had a mission to win the finals so it’s kind of like a shrugged win,” Culp said, “but you take every win you can get and I’m proud of them for responding today. It could have been really easy after last night and not as big a crowd (Friday) to lay down, but I thought this was probably the hardest they’ve played in a while. To turn around and do that in a noon game makes me really proud of them.”

 

68th annual Neosho Holiday Classic

Friday’s scores

Gold Title Game: Cypress Falls (Texas) 44, Atascocita (Texas) 30

Gold Third Place: Bentonville (Ark.) 72, Van Buren (Ark.) 52

Gold Fifth Place: Morrilton (Ark.) 49, Maumelle (Ark.) 38

Gold Seventh Place: St. Joseph Lafayette 98, Memphis Mitchell (Tenn.) 72

Black Title Game: Crooked Oak (Okla.) 64, Huntsville (Ark.) 57

Black Third Place: Neosho 54, Monett 41

Black Fifth Place: Sapulpa (Okla.) 55, Cassville 42

Black Seventh Place: McDonald County 54, East Newton 35

 

2022 Black Bracket All Tournament Team

Tymier Adkins-Freeman – Crooked Oak (MVP)

Mason Davidson – Huntsville 

Jason Garner – Monett 

Isaiah Green – Neosho 

Kylen Edwards – Sapulpa 

Troy Lambert – Huntsville 

Daevian Hill – Crooked Oak 

Cross Dowd – McDonald County

 

2022 Gold Bracket All Tournament Team  

Joseph Tuggler – Cypress Falls (MVP)

Chase Ashby – Atascocita 

JaCorey Mosley – Morrilton 

Jaxon Cazzell – Van Buren 

Camden Bennett – St. Joe Lafayette 

Markalon Rochell – Maumelle 

Jaylen Lee – Bentonville 

Reid Meekins – Cypress Falls

 

Bill Ball Sportsmanship Award: Morrilton

NEOSHO, Mo. — Six made field goals.

Seven made free throws.

A single point in the first quarter and four at halftime, all on free throws.

The first 18 minutes of the game before a made field goal and the final stat line of 19 points and 18 turnovers.

Those are the main numbers that highlight tournament host Neosho’s often grisly struggle Friday during a 51-19 loss against defending girls champion Fort Smith Northside (Ark.) in the championship game of the Neosho Holiday Classic played at Neosho High School.

“We did not come out the way that we wanted to come out tonight,” Neosho coach Daniel Durst said. “I’m not sure what it was, but we just didn’t show up to start with and I got them to start back up after halftime, but we dug ourselves a really big hole and it’s hard to dig yourself out of that.

“That Northside team is really tough. We knew that coming in. They’re a great basketball team. I told the girls in our walk-through this morning that we need to play as hard as we can to put ourselves in a position to win at the end of the game. We stressed that if we were going to win this game it would be a close one until the end. Unfortunately, we didn’t show up ready to do that today.”

Looking on the bright side of the Wildcats’ performance in their home tournament, though, Neosho won games against Van Buren (Ark.) and Memphis Whitehaven (Tenn.), erased an 11-point deficit with the final 15 points in the last three minutes against Van Buren and scored the first nine points in their win against Whitehaven, senior Karlee Ellick and sophomore Beclynn Garrett each received all-tournament recognition, and senior Reagan McInturff repeated as the champion of the 3-point shooting competition.

McInturff also made the go-ahead 3-point basket in the thrilling win Wednesday against Van Buren.

“I think overall tournament play, we played well,” Durst said. “With the exception of tonight, we’re getting better. Every game, we take something away and learn from it, and we’re better the next time. Even from this loss tonight, it’s tough but we’ve learned something, and it will then make us better in the future.”

In the loss Friday, Ellick, Garrett, and her older sister Maelynn Garrett each led Neosho with four points, Meredith Baldwin and Courtney Thomason each added two, and McInturff, Autumn Kinnaird, and Madison Olson each made a free throw to round out the scoring.

Karys Washington scored a game-high 26 points for Northside (10-2) and she also tallied nine rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot, and one steal.

Erianna Gooden added nine points for the Grizzlies, a perennial power in Arkansas Class 6A girls basketball.

Northside outscored Neosho 32-12 in the paint, 23-5 off turnovers, and 20-3 in second-chance points, as well as owning a 37-23 rebounding edge.

Neosho dropped to 7-5 overall and the Wildcats return to action Jan. 9 with their Central Ozark Conference opener on the road against Webb City (6-4).

At this point in the season last year, Neosho was 5-7 overall.

 

68th annual Neosho Holiday Classic

Friday’s scores

Title game: Fort Smith Northside (Ark.) 51, Neosho 19

Third place: Memphis Whitehaven (Tenn.) 47, Van Buren (Ark.) 44 (OT)

Fifth place: St. Joseph Lafayette 56, Stoutland 44

 

2022 Girls Division All Tournament Team

Karys Washington – Northside  (MVP)

Beclynn Garrett – Neosho 

Karlee Ellick – Neosho 

Jeureni Wright – Whitehaven 

Arianna Gooden – Northside 

Talicia Byrd – Lafayette

Bill Ball Legacy of Sportsmanship Award: Stoutland