FRONTENAC, Kan. — Nevada junior guard Clara Swearingen surpassed 1,000 career points in her team’s 54-51 non-conference victory at Frontenac, Kansas, on Monday night.
Clara Swearingen
The Tigers improved to 16-4 on the season.
Swearingen scored 13 points against the Raiders. She entered the night needing just eight points to reach 1,000.
Senior guard Maddy Majors led Nevada with 16 points. Abbey Heathman added 13 points for the Tigers, while Katie Johnson had nine.
Hattie Pyle scored 16 points for the Raiders (8-5), while Mia Brown added 13.
After outscoring the hosts 11-6 in the second quarter, Nevada held a 30-28 halftime lead.
The second half was nearly even, as Nevada outscored Frontenac 8-7 in the low-scoring third period before both teams recorded 16 points apiece in the final frame.
WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats finished second in the Central Ozark Conference Tournament with 179 points on Saturday at the Cardinal Dome, ending 12 points behind defending champion Ozark. Once winners of nine straight conference tournaments until last season, Neosho entered the first and third-place matches Saturday trailing Ozark 176-150.5 and the Wildcats managed to accumulate 28.5 total points in the medal matches to excise 13.5 points from their deficit.
Neosho’s Eli Zar works for a pin against Carthage’s Lenny Teo in 165-pound action in the COC Championships on Saturday at Webb City. Photo by Israel Perez.
Neosho seniors Collyn Kivett (157 pounds), Eli Zar (165), and Ulysses DeLeon (190) each won conference titles and Sam Fryar (106), Brody Mitchell (113), Fisher Butler (120), and Nico Olivares (285) each finished third for the Wildcats, while Hunter Butler (132) and Johnny Chrisco (144) each placed fourth, Carter Howard (138), Chase Kivett (150), and Everson Tomlinson (215) each took fifth, and Gabriel Busteed (175) placed sixth.
“We had some matches where we wrestled extremely well,” Neosho coach Jeremy Phillips said. “We had other matches where we did not. We’ve got to be more consistent, more coachable, and I think one of the keys for us was that some of the big matches came down to staying hungry when we had a lead, being tough, and not just wrestling to hang on to something we don’t yet have, but to go wrestling to improve your lead.
“We had one particular match we were winning head-to-head against Ozark. They got 10 points because they made it to the finals. They won by 12. If we beat them, we go to the finals and we get the 10, they don’t get the 10. That’s a 20-point swing. We were right there.
“It is the little things. Being coachable and being consistent with our wrestling. At the very first of the day, we talked about wrestling one period at a time. Win that period and go on to the next one and win that period. That approach, had we done that consistently and been tough from period one to period three, then we’d have the results we’re looking for as a team.”
Zar (40-2) prevailed 1-0 over Willard’s Gary Walker in one of the best championship matches of the evening and fellow seniors Collyn Kivett (32-6) and DeLeon (35-6) each won by sudden victory in their respective championship matches against Ozark’s Brock Sundlie (Kivett 3-1) and Nixa’s Avry Rutherford (DeLeon 8-6).
Fryar, Mitchell, and Olivares each claimed third with wins by pin, and Fisher Butler won third with a 13-3 major decision.
The Wildcats improved their standing in the conference tournament by two spots and scored 40.5 more points than last season.
Zar won his third conference title at his third different weight (170 his junior and 145 his sophomore season) and he placed second at 126 his freshman season in 2020.
Collyn Kivett and DeLeon each won their first conference title.
CARL JUNCTION TAKES THIRD; BULLDOGS WITH THREE TITLES
The Carl Junction Bulldogs put their first four weights in championship matches Saturday and three of them — Carter Foglesong (106), Lukas Walker (113), and Sam Melton (120) — earned conference titles, helping the Bulldogs tally 159.5 overall points and finish behind only Ozark (191) and Neosho (179).
Carl Junction’s Dexter Merrell and Joplin’s Juan Morales battle at 157 pounds. Photo by Israel Perez.
Carl Junction finished in the top three in the conference tournament for the second year in a row, a source of pride for the Bulldogs and their head coach Mike Frizzell.
“I think they stepped up to the task today, coming in as the smallest COC school here and competing with a lot of Class 4 schools as a Class 3 school,” Frizzell said. “I thought we came in and competed well.
“We’re very pleased with the way the kids responded today. We had a rough fourth round, but we came back real well in the medal matches. That’s something to build on. We need to be able to win those big matches in that fourth round. It could be that one round at state or one round at districts to get to go to state.”
Foglesong (32-4) won 6-3 against Carthage’s Tanner Putt for the 106 crown, Walker improved to 36-1 overall with a 7-4 decision against Ozark’s Damien Moseley, and Melton (33-5) pinned Carthage’s Grady Huntley in a mere 13 seconds in their 120-pound championship match.
Ozark’s Caden Harrington pinned Carl Junction junior Max Matthews 42 seconds into the second period of their 126-pound championship match.
Brenden Berry (138), Dex Merrell (157), and Tony Stewart (165) each finished third, Chance Benford (190) and Cayden Bolinger (285) fifth, Nevan Challenger (144) and Blake Starks (215) seventh, and Keaton Colburn (132) and Josh McDermott (175) eighth.
Walker and Melton each won their second conference title—Walker won at 106 and Melton 113 last season.
CARTHAGE TAKES SIXTH
Carthage’s Gabe Lambeth looks for a takedown against Ozark’s Eric Shepard on Saturday. Photo by Israel Perez.
Carthage wrestlers Tanner Putt (106), Grady Huntley (120), Bradyn Tate (132), and Grey Petticrew (150) each competed for a conference title, while Alberto Sales (113) and David Recinos (285) each had their shot for a medal in third place matches Saturday.
The Tigers entered the final round in sixth place with 126 points and then went 0-6 in the first and third place matches to remain in sixth with the same number of points.
“Honestly, I thought we wrestled well,” Carthage coach Kenny Brown said. “We ran into some of the best kids in the state in the finals. We went 0-for in the finals, which is not ideal, but we went up against (Nixa’s Zan) Fugitt at 132 in the finals and then Petticrew at 150 ran into (Ozark’s Braxton) Strick. These are two returning state champs.
“Just to get where we did, we wrestled well. I am pleased with where our team is right now. We just have to keep improving on some of the small things.”
Putt, Huntley, Tate, and Petticrew each finished second, Sales and Recinos each placed fourth, Kip Castor (144), Trey Nye (157), and Gabe Lambeth (175) each took fifth, Israel Perez (126) finished sixth, Esvin Gonzalez (190) placed eighth, and Lenny Teo (165) did not place for the Tigers.
JOPLIN HAS TWO WRESTLERS PLACE THIRD
The Joplin Eagles, behind third-place finishers Toryn Jones (126) and Draven VanGilder (215), placed ninth in the overall team standings Saturday with 62.5 points, only 3.5 points behind eighth place Branson.
“There were highs and there were lows about like every tournament,” Joplin coach Jeremy Finley said. “Sometimes, the highs outweigh the lows and I think in the early rounds (Saturday), it was hard for us but as the tournament went on, we got some confidence going and I think we did pretty well.”
Jones (18-15) pinned Republic’s Shea Rogers in 3:10 and VanGilder (22-7) won by medical forfeit against Branson’s Cade Grimm (35-5) for third.
Drew VanGilder (15-7) unfortunately took a medical forfeit against Ozark’s Johnny Williams in their third-place match.
Johnathen Burke (144), Ethan Bentz (165), and Brennan Washington (285) each finished sixth and Alex Short (138), Orion Norris (150), and Gryphon Price (175) each placed seventh, while Jabin Brown (120) and Juan Morales (157) did not place for the Eagles.
2023 COC WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
at Webb City
Team Scores: Ozark 191, Neosho 179, Carl Junction 159.5, Nixa 153, Willard 148, Carthage 126, Republic 77, Branson 66, Joplin 62.5, Webb City 32.5.
LEBANON, Mo. — Another tournament, another championship.
The Carl Junction girls basketball team defeated tourney host Lebanon 69-57 on Saturday in the championship game of the I-44 Lady’s Classic Basketball Tournament inside Boswell Auditorium.
“We’re excited about this one,” Carl Junction coach Brad Shorter told SoMo Sports. “It’s not easy to go on the road and stay in hotel beds and do what we were able to do against a team that got to sleep in their own beds. I’m just proud of them. Lebanon is awfully good. They have some really good pieces and Coach (Jacky) Payne does a great job with them.”
Ranked first in Class 5 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, the Bulldogs have now won four tournament titles this season— the CJ Classic, the Lady Mustang Classic, the Bill Hanson Memorial tourney and the I-44 Classic.
“It feels good to win another tournament,” Shorter said. “Two of our goals for the season were to be in the championship game of every tournament we played in and then to win the championship in every tournament. We were able to do that in four of five tournaments, so that’s a testament to our kids and how tough they’ve been all season long.”
The Bulldogs were the runner-up at the Fort Smith Tournament of Champions.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs overcame an early deficit en route to the double-digit victory, as Lebanon held a 20-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“I think our legs might have got to us a little bit,” Shorter said. “We played really well the last two games and I thought we came out a little sluggish today.”
The Bulldogs outscored the Yellowjackets 20-11 in the second period for a 38-31 halftime advantage.
Carl Junction held a 50-43 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The visitors outscored the hosts 19-14 in the fourth period for the final margin.
“We stayed the course and got some things going in the second quarter,” Shorter said. “We weren’t hitting our shots like we were the first two nights, but that’s going to happen. We had to do it with our defense, we did that, and we were able to pull away from them. I thought we could have stretched the lead out a little more, but we had some pretty poor possessions. But we got it done.”
The Bulldogs are now 18-1.
Senior guard Destiny Buerge led the Bulldogs with 29 points, while senior guard Klohe Burk scored 15 points, junior forward Kylie Scott had 14 and sophomore forward Dezi Williams added eight points.
Western Illinois commit Raegan McCowan scored a game-high 35 points for the Class 6 Yellowjackets, who fell to 12-6.
Ahead of the title game, the Bulldogs beat Warrensburg 94-37 and Lee’s Summit West 75-43 at the event. Both teams have winning records this season.
“All of these tournaments have made us better and will help prepare us for the postseason,” Shorter said. “They’ve also forced us to play three nights in a row and get into our legs a little bit against quality opponents. I think these tournaments have helped our team improve its toughness. We’ve been able to see a lot of different styles of play on short notice, and that’s helped our overall level of play.”
Carl Junction doesn’t have much time to celebrate the tourney championship. The Bulldogs are at Joplin on Monday night, with the Central Ozark Conference clash slated for 7 p.m.
Shorter noted his squad still has work to do if they want to secure a conference title.
“We’re ready to get back into COC play and we’re ready to work on another goal of ours,” he said.
The Carl Junction Bulldogs pose after winning the I44 Lady’s Basketball Classic Tournament on Saturday at Lebanon High School. Courtesy photo.
NEVADA, Mo. — In a clash between Tigers, Carthage rode a strong third quarter to a lopsided non-conference victory over Nevada on Friday night inside Wynn Gymnasium.
Up five at halftime, Carthage outscored Nevada 24-6 in the game-changing third period to take a commanding lead.
Overall, the visitors outscored the hosts 40-15 in the second half.
Carthage improved to 11-7, while Nevada fell to 8-12
Max Templeman led Carthage with 17 points, while Britt Coy added 16 points and Clay Kinder had 11.
Cade Beshore led Nevada with nine points, while Brice Budd added eight and Riddick Shook had six.
A back-and-forth first quarter that saw four lead changes and three ties ended with Carthage up 12-10.
Carthage outscored Nevada 14-11 in the second period to take a 26-21 halftime advantage.
The visitors took their first double digit lead at 34-24 after Templeman’s runner in the lane.
Carthage continued to pull away, as Kinder’s 3-pointer from the top of the key and Templeman’s two free throws gave the visiting Tigers a 15-point cushion.
Later in the third period, treys from Justin Ray and Coy gave Carthage a comfortable 50-27 advantage. Carthage’s lead was never in jeopardy in the fourth quarter.
Carthage hosts rival Webb City on Tuesday night in a Central Ozark Conference contest.
Nevada is at Monett on Tuesday.
MCAULEY BOYS 54, EXETER 37
EXETER, MO. — McAuley limited Exeter to three points in the first quarter and held a nine-point lead by the intermission before pulling away down the stretch on the way to a conference win on Friday.
The Warriors improve to 6-13, 1-2 in Ozark 7 action.
Alex Bohachick led the Warriors in scoring with 13 points, while Rocco Bazzano-Joseph finished right behind with 12 points. Bradley Wagner finished with nine in the win and Noah Black finished with eight.
McAuley takes on College Heights at 8:30 p.m. on Monday to open as hosts of the Mercy Warrior Classic.
COLLEGE HEIGHTS GIRLS 76, WHEATON 41
College Heights jumped out in front early and pushed the pace throughout en route to an Ozark 7 win over Wheaton on Friday.
With the win, the Cougars improve to 11-8 on the season and 3-0 in conference play.
“We had a second straight game of shooting very well as a team,” College Heights coach John Blankenship said. “While Libby Fanning certainly carried the load for us in terms of scoring, we had a very balanced attack from everyone else.
“Our defense was instrumental in getting us off to a quick start tonight, jumping out to a 11 to 0 lead. Wheaton’s coach is doing a great job with a short-handed team of only six players. They played hard and battled back cutting into our lead. But, our kids responded well clamping down defensively creating several turnovers leading to some early fast break points.”
Fanning led the way for the Cougars with her 14th double-double of the season, pouring in 27 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Ava Lett finished with 10 points and Maddy Colin added eight. Jayli Johnson added five points, five assists and five steals, while Lauren Ukena scored eight and had five steals. Addie Lawrence finished with six points.
College Heights takes on Thomas Jefferson in non-conference action at 5:30 p.m. on Monday at the Mercy Warrior Classic hosted by McAuley Catholic.
ST. CHARLES GIRLS 44, JOPLIN 40
LEBANON, Mo. — Joplin built a 27-15 lead by the intermission before St. Charles rallied in the second half on the way to the win on Friday in the I44 Lady’s Classic Basketball Tournament hosted by Lebanon High School.
Joplin used a 16-7 first quarter to build an early lead before extending the margin to 12 by halftime. St. Charles outscored Joplin 16-7 in the third quarter and 13-7 down the stretch to rally for the win.
Bailey Ledford had 13 points to lead the Eagles in scoring, while Alissa Owens accounted for nine points. Riley Kelly had five points in the loss.
EL DORADO SPRINGS GIRLS 69, CARTHAGE 40
EL DORADO SPRINGS, Mo. — Class 3 second-ranked El Dorado Springs held a 10-point lead after the first quarter and never looked back in a win over Carthage on Friday.
El Dorado led by 13 at the half and was on top 56-35 heading into the final eight minutes of action en route to the win.
Kianna Yates led Carthage (9-9) with 16 points, while Lexa Youngblood finished with nine.
Macie Mays led El Dorado Springs with 27 points.
Carthage hosts Webb City on a Super Night on Tuesday.
LEBANON, Mo. — Propelled by a barrage of 3-pointers, Carl Junction advanced to the championship game of the Lebanon I-44 Lady’s Classic Basketball Tournament by beating Lee’s Summit West 75-43 on Friday night inside Boswell Auditorium.
Ranked first in Class 5, the Bulldogs will meet tourney host Lebanon in the championship game at 3:30 on Saturday.
The Bulldogs, now 17-1, hit 15 3-pointers in the game.
Carl Junction put together a 15-2 run late in the first quarter to pull ahead for good.
During the surge, Klohe Burk made a trey, while Destiny Buerge hit a trio of 3-pointers and also converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to give her team a 23-13 lead.
The Titans scored just before the buzzer to trim their deficit to eight entering the second period.
The Bulldogs knocked down four 3-pointers in the second quarter, one apiece from Burk, Buerge, Dezi Williams and Hali Shorter, and CJ took a 39-24 halftime lead.
Carl Junction hit 10 3-pointers in the first half.
Treys from both Burk and Buerge, along with Kylie Scott’s hoop and free throw, made it 55-34 in the third quarter.
Buerge then buried 3-pointers on three straight possessions to extend CJ’s advantage to 64-34.
The Bulldogs took a comfy 68-39 lead into the fourth quarter, and there was a running clock in the final frame.
Buerge, a Pittsburg State signee, scored 32 points for the Bulldogs. Buerge made eight 3-pointers.
Burk scored 17 points and hit five treys. Scott, who missed most of the first half due to foul trouble, also reached double figures with 12 points. Williams added nine points, Shorter had three and Anna Burch chipped in two points.
Bailey Burns scored 13 points for the Class 6 Titans.
Lebanon defeated Troy Buchanan 57-47 in the other semifinal.
WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Joplin Eagles placed fourth with 63.5 points on Friday at the Central Ozark Conference Girls Wrestling Tournament inside the Cardinal Dome.
The Nixa Eagles defended their conference title with 216.5 overall points, followed by their county, conference and district rival Ozark with 210.5 points.
Willard finished third at 119.5, Branson fifth at 55, Republic sixth at 38.5, Carl Junction seventh at 34, Webb City eighth at 31.5, and Neosho ninth at 18 points.
Joplin’s six wrestlers all finished in the top five of their respective weights: CoryAunna Mueller second at 110 pounds, Erika Washom third at 135, Olivia Higdon fifth at 140, Amy Kessler second at 145, Mya Ndedi Ntepe third at 155, and Illahna Burtrun fourth at 190. Higdon finished with a medical forfeit in her matches.
“We ended up placing fourth,” Joplin coach Jeremy Finley said. “Not bad. CoryAunna wrestled real tough at 110. She got second. Ericka Washom placed third in a really tough bracket, probably the toughest bracket here in my opinion, at 135. At 145, Amy Kessler got second. At 155, Mya Ndepe got third.
Joplin’s Erika Washom is pictured during Friday’s Central Ozark Conference wrestling tournament at Webb City. Washom took third place at 135 pounds. Photo by Jessica Greninger.
“We wrestled OK. A lot of girls on our team, it’s their first year wrestling. They’re starting to get a full year of experience on their belt, and I think they’re starting to come around a little bit.”
The Eagles finished seventh with 23 points at the conference tournament last season, represented by only Washom at 130 and Higdon at 135 who placed second and fourth overall at their respective weights.
“It’s a big improvement,” Finley said. “It goes to show the girls that their hard work pays off. All the girls who wrestled finished in the top four. That’s pretty good.”
Mueller (11-8) pinned Branson’s Emma Melton in 3 minutes and 46 seconds and Nixa’s Ellie Moore in 4:48, with her only loss coming by pinfall against Ozark’s Victoria Dunn (34-8).
Washom (27-8) pinned Ozark’s Hannah Maskrod in 1:48 and Webb City’s Kylie Jennings in 2:35 but lost by major decision against Willard’s Ashlan Thompson (24-4) and by pinfall against Nixa’s unbeaten and returning state champion Brenya Crahan (42-0).
Kessler (10-6) won a 6-4 decision against Nixa’s Taelor Dorr and lost 8-5 against Ozark’s Delaney Cardin.
Ndepe (13-20) won 6-0 against Ozark’s Faith Shepard and lost by pinfall against Nixa’s Calyese Dupree and Willard’s Gina Sellers.
Burtrun (14-11) won a 11-4 tiebreaker against Nixa’s Jessie Nelson in the night’s last match and lost 4-1 against Willard’s Harmony Moore and by pinfall against Republic’s Kylie Vance.
The Joplin girls saw their number of wrestlers triple at the conference tournament in one year, and it’s quite possible their numbers will expand in future years to compete with Nixa and Ozark, who had 14 and 12 wrestlers competing Friday night.
“There’s a lot of girls who are hard-nosed that don’t have anything to do in the winter because maybe basketball is not the right thing for them,” Finley said. “Maybe wrestling is, and I think that’s starting to show. Numbers will be going through the roof next couple years, I bet.”
Neosho’s Carmen Peren clashed with Carl Junction’s Sarah Tyler on Friday at the COC girls wrestling tournament in Webb City. Photos by Jessica Greninger.
Carl Junction, Webb City, Neosho finish 7th, 8th, 9th
Carl Junction junior Bryanna McCabe led the Bulldogs with a second place at 120 pounds and freshman Isabella Montez finished third at 130.
McCabe pinned Willard’s Kamayah Mace in 34 seconds, Branson’s Daphne Worley in 1:06, and Republic’s Anna McBroom in 1:31, and lost by pin against Nixa’s Mylee Harper (31-13) and Ozark’s Maelynn Sundlie (37-6). McCabe improved to 13-7 overall.
Montez (13-10) pinned Branson’s Priya Raghani in 2:15 and Willard’s Gabriella Rogers in 1:05 and lost by pinfall against Nixa’s Abigail Weitzel, Ozark’s Clarice Wheeler, and Neosho’s Jillian Ramirez in her debut conference tournament.
Tournament host Webb City had sophomore Emma Combs third at 170, senior Kylie Jennings fourth at 135, and freshman Layne Espinoza fourth at 140.
Combs (7-15) pinned Nixa’s Katy Wilson in 2:23 and won 11-9 against Neosho’s Carmen Peren, and she lost by pinfall against Ozark’s Sarah Cazier (35-10) and Willard’s Haley Autterson (25-13).
Jennings pinned Ozark’s Maskrod in 1:07 for her only win in four matches.
Ramirez and Peren represented Neosho with a fourth and a fifth at 130 and 170, respectively.
Ramirez (6-10) pinned Raghani in 1:22 and Montez in 2:45, and she nearly secured an upset victory against Nixa’s 33-win Weitzel, taking a 4-3 loss in the second round.
Peren (3-12) pinned Carl Junction’s Sarah Tyler in 3:41.
Webb City’s Layla Espinoza is pictured during Friday’s COC wrestling tournament. Espinoza was fourth at 140 pounds.
LEBANON, Mo. — Carl Junction’s girls rolled to a dominating victory in their opener of the I44 Lady’s Classic Basketball Tournament at Lebanon High School.
The Bulldogs put up 35 points in the first quarter and held a commanding 57-16 lead by intermission en route to the blowout win.
Five players scored in double figures for Carl Junction.
Kylie Scott scored 21 points and Destiny Buerge added 20 points to lead the Bulldogs.
Hali Shorter added 15 points on five 3-pointers, Klohe Burk had 11 points and Dezi Williams scored 10.
Ranked first in Class 5, the Bulldogs (16-1) will meet Lee’s Summit West at 9 p.m. on Friday in the tourney semifinals. Lee’s Summit West beat Eldon 84-71.
TROY GIRLS 51, JOPLIN 22
LEBANON, Mo. — Troy jumped out in front and never looked back in a win over Joplin to open the I44 Lady’s Classic basketball tournament hosted by Lebanon High School on Thursday.
Troy led 29-12 at halftime and outscored Joplin 23-11 in the second half en route to the win.
Bailey Ledford led the way for Joplin with seven points. Serafina Auberry and Jill McDaniel each had four in the loss.
Ava Meyers finished with 21 points to lead Troy in scoring, while Lilly Robinson added 15.
Joplin plays St. Charles at 4:30 p.m. in the consolation bracket on Friday.
COLLEGE HEIGHTS GIRLS 76, VERONA 38
VERONA, Mo. — College Heights Christian coach John Blankenship was pleased with his team’s performance on Thursday night.
“This was one of our best team efforts of the year,” Blankenship said. “Our defense was strong, our transition game was working and we shot really well. We were 12-for-26 from the 3-point line. We had six players knock down at least one 3-pointer. We have been working really hard on our shooting.”
Addie Lawrence made four 3-pointers for the Cougars, while Jayli Johnson, Allie Stout and Ava Lett all hit two treys apiece. Jesalin Bever and Maddy Colin each made one 3-pointer.
Lawrence scored 16 points to lead CHC, while Johnson had 12 points, four assists and two steals.
Also for the Cougars, Colin contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Libby Fanning had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Lett scored seven points and Stout had six. Lauren Ukena had eight steals to go along with four points and three assists.
Bever contributed five points, three boards and two steals and Kinley Marsh chipped in two points and six rebounds.
College Heights is now 10-8, 2-0 in conference games.
The Cougars host Wheaton at 6 p.m. on Friday night.
CLEVER GIRLS 43, WEBB CITY 38
CLEVER, Mo. — Webb City dropped a non-conference road game on Thursday night in Clever.
The Cardinals are now 12-6.
Webb City is at Carthage on Tuesday night for a COC clash.
WEBB CITY BOYS 51, EAST NEWTON 43
GRANBY, Mo. — Webb City improved to 14-4 on the season with Thursday’s non-conference road victory.
Webb City led 30-15 at halftime, and the Cardinals held a comfortable 41-22 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals were up by 20 points for a large part of the second half before getting their reserves playing time in the fourth quarter.
Joe Adams scored 14 points to lead the Cardinals, while Eli Pace added 11. Barron Duda and Alex Martin contributed nine points apiece for the Cardinals.
Robert McFarland scored 14 points for East Newton, while Braxton Wolfe added 12 and Marshal Renner had nine.
The Patriots fell to 7-13.
Webb City is at rival Carthage on Tuesday night.
THOMAS JEFFERSON BOYS 54, GOLDEN CITY 52
GOLDEN CITY, Mo. — Thomas Jefferson erased a halftime deficit with a strong third quarter on the way to a 54-52 win over Golden City in Ozark 7 Conference and district action on Thursday.
The Cavaliers (13-4, 2-0 Ozark 7) trailed 23-21 by the intermission before outsourcing the Eagles (12-8, 0-1 Ozark 7) 18-11 in the third period to gain a 39-34 cushion. Thomas Jefferson held Golden City off down the stretch to preserve the win.
““I thought our kids did a nice job defensively tonight,” Thomas Jefferson coach Chris Myers said to SoMo Sports. “They hit some big shots there late to make it interesting, but our kids responded well and hit some key free throws down the stretch. This was a big win as it had huge conference and district implications.”
Jay Ball had 19 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double to lead Thomas Jefferson in the win. Tyler Brouhard had 18 points, seven rebounds and five steals in the win. David Triplett finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers, while Kip Atteberry had four assists and three points.
Golden City was led in scoring by Hosh Reeves’ 21 points, while Ty Force added 16 points and Spencer Parrill eight points in the loss.
SENECA BOYS 39, MONETT 37
SENECA, Mo. — Ethan Altic scored 18 points to lead the Indians, while Morgan Vaughn added nine.
CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Carthage Tigers scored 24 of the game’s first 26 points on their way to a 76-28 win on Thursday against the visiting Seneca Indians.
Carthage scored 28 points in the first quarter, 16 in the second, 23 in the third and nine in the fourth, while Seneca produced seven points each in the first and second, five in the third and nine in the fourth.
“They’re missing both their point guards,” Carthage coach Scott Moore said. “That obviously puts them at a huge disadvantage, but we want to play how we play every game no matter who we play. The girls get tired of hearing me say it’s not who we play but it’s how we play.
“Regardless of the other team, coming out and putting 28-7 up in the first quarter sets the tone for the rest of the game and shows that we’re ready to play and that we want to dominate teams when they’re short-handed. It shows that we can play teams with that confidence when they’re fully loaded. We want to set that energy and tone early, so then (Friday) when we go up to El Dorado Springs, we come out and play with that energy early against a better team.”
Carthage senior Kianna Yates scored a game-high 22 points and sophomore Lexa Youngblood added 14, Lauren Choate 11, Ashlyn Brust nine, Maggie Boyd eight, Trisha Kanas six, Landry Cochran four and Zye Clark two points on a night when eight of Carthage’s nine players found the scoring column and five of them scored at least eight points.
Seneca senior Parker Long finished with 17 points to lead the short-handed Indians, who are 6-12 overall and on a six-game slide entering their home tournament next week.
“We tried to even out the minutes as best we can,” Moore said. “We’ve only got nine girls, so we’ve got to have a starter out on the floor at all times. I was proud of all the girls for being aggressive. Even some of the girls who didn’t score as many points were looking for their shot. I don’t think anybody played more than 20 minutes tonight, so we should have fresh legs (Friday against El Dorado Springs).
“Happy to see Kianna get her 22 points. It’s not easy to score that much when you’re only going to get 20 minutes at most. Great night for Lexa Youngblood, a career-high (14 points) for her. Lauren Choate shot the ball well, hit three 3s but only took about five so a good shooting efficient night for her.
“We’ve been working on our shooting, and I thought it showed today. We scored at all three levels well. We finished at the rim well, mid-range jumpers went down, and I thought our 3-point shooting was good. We were seven of maybe 20 tonight, and that’s better than what we’ve been shooting. Just proud all the way around of the energy for 32 minutes.”
Carthage improved to 9-8 overall entering Friday’s game against El Dorado Springs, a team 14-4 overall and ranked second in Class 3 with a six-game winning streak.
“We’re happy to play them because that’s a team that’s very much going to be like the teams in our conference,” Moore said. “We’ve only played two conference games. We’ve got seven more to go. El Dorado Springs will give us a good look. It prepares us for Webb City and Republic next week as we get back into conference.”
Carthage hosts Webb City on Tuesday and travels to Republic on Thursday.
The Tigers’ next five opponents are the second-ranked team in Class 3 (El Dorado Springs), a team receiving votes in Class 5 (Webb City), the third-ranked team in Class 6 (Republic), the top-ranked team in Class 5 (Carl Junction) and the seventh-ranked team in Class 6 (Nixa).
NEOSHO, Mo. — Neosho took a buzzer-beating lead into the second quarter and never looked back in a 57-38 win over McDonald County on Thursday.
Neosho (9-9) held a slim lead to start the second period before a late run in the first half gave the Wildcats a nine-point cushion to start the second half. The Wildcats extended the lead in the third quarter and pushed it to more than 20 points down the stretch.
“Up until this point, we have really been struggling with if we start out flat offensively, then our defense suffers,” first-year Neosho coach Daniel Durst said. “Then teams will build a lead on us, we will come out in the second half and fight to get it close and then get tired. We’ve really been hitting defensive and our defensive mentality hard in practice and it showed tonight because we started a little flat on offense, but we were playing hard enough on defense that we just held them until the offense got into a rhythm.
“It showed tonight that they are taking what we are harping on them about in practice into the games. I am super proud of this team. We lost Beclynn (Garrett), our point guard. She had surgery today. We have just been trying to figure out everyone’s new roles without her there. We have to share the ball a little more getting up the floor. I think today we had kind of a breakthrough there. We struggled at times, but we are getting where we need to be.”
The Wildcats finished with two players in double figures, with senior forward Karlee Ellick’s game-high 25 points leading the way for Neosho. Senior forward Reagan McInturff added 14 points in the win, while senior Raine Harris finished with six points.
Junior Anna Clarkson led McDonald County (6-11) with 10 points, while freshman Carlie Martin closed with nine in the loss. Junior Carlee Cooper finished with seven and senior Megan Elwood with six.
GAME ACTION
Neosho led for much of the opening quarter before McDonald County tied the game in the waning minutes. The Wildcats ultimately took a 12-9 advantage into the second period after Harris buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer.
“That was a huge shot for us,” Durst said of Harris’ 3-pointer just before the horn. “She is stepping up as a senior. Raine has been stepping up the last couple of weeks for us. So has Reagan McInturff and Maelynn Garrett. … Big shots like that from seniors on the team will drive us moving forward.”
The Mustangs rallied to tie the game at 15-all following a mid-range bucket from Martin and a score on the break by Cooper with 4:09 to play.
Neosho responded in a big way, swinging the momentum in its favor with a 10-0 surge to take a 25-16 lead into halftime.
McInturff kicked things off with back to back 3-pointers from the wing before Ellick added two buckets in the paint.
“When we get going, we get going,” Durst said of the run. “When Reagan gets hot, give her the ball. That’s our mentality. And when our outside is making shots, Karl will start sprinting the floor even harder than before and that kind of stuff really drives us. We have seen these type of runs from the girls all season.”
Neosho expanded its lead to 14 by the end of the third quarter. The Wildcats led by as 17 following an 8-0 run—with Ellick, who had 18 points in the second half, accounting for six of the eight points in the run—to make the score 40-23 with less than a minute to play.
“Her play was great in the second half,” Durst said. “In the locker room, we just talked about her moving a little differently to get away from that weak-side help. She really bought into that and that was huge for us because when she gets going, we get going. She is our biggest motor that we have.”
The Wildcats started the final eight minutes on an 8-1 run to push the lead to more than 20, which Neosho played with down the stretch.
“We were just preaching to be aggressive—getting the ball to the basket and not settling for bad shots when you can get (high-percentage) shots,” Durst said of his team’s play in the second half to expand the lead en route to the win. “We talked about attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line, and I thought we did a good job of that.”
WEBB CITY, Mo. — For the second straight year, the Webb City Cardinals edged the rival Carl Junction Bulldogs for the team crown at the Central Ozark Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.
Webb City compiled 269 points to Carl Junction’s 266 on Thursday night at the Buck Miner Swim Center in a meet that once again came down to the final event.
“Our girls swam incredibly well,” Webb City coach Shawn Klosterman said. “It’s crazy how this meet seems to come down to the last relay a lot. Watching that last relay is as fun as it gets. But I was about to throw up.”
The Cardinals and Bulldogs have developed quite the rivalry.
Carl Junction won the COC Meet in both ’20 and ’21 before Webb City nipped the Bulldogs 293-289.5 for the top spot at last year’s meet.
“We practice here and we have a great relationship with Webb City,” Carl Junction coach Stephanie Miller said. “Seeing them do well is fun. It’s a friendly rivalry. I think the girls from both teams feed off each other and make each other better. I love it.”
After the Cardinals and Bulldogs, Ozark finished third in the team standings with 221 points, Carthage was fourth with 169, Nixa took fifth with 150 and Joplin was sixth with 106.
The meet featured several record-setting performances, with pool records, school records and COC records falling.
The Webb City girls swim team poses with the COC championship plaque at the conclusion of Thursday’s meet. Photo by Jason Peake
WEBB CITY HIGHLIGHTS
The Cardinals had a top-three finish in 10 of the 12 events.
“There were so many good swims here,” Klosterman said. “We had some big move-ups. They jumped on every opportunity. Carl was doing the same thing…they were swimming lights out. What I was surprised with is we just went to the COMO Meet, which is the fastest facility in the state. For the kids to come back four days later and swim faster means they were turning in very inspired swims.”
Webb City senior standout Sophia Whitesell won a pair of individual events to lead the Cardinals.
Whitesell won the 200-yard individual medley in a meet record time of 2:16. She also took first in the 500 freestyle in 5:34.
“Sophia trains out of her mind and she deserves every accolade she gets,” Coach Klosterman said. “She practices eight or nine times a week plus weights. I think she’s just going to keep getting faster.”
The Cardinals had a number of stellar performances.
Norah Klosterman was the runner-up in the 500 free and she took third in the 200 free, while Camryn Klosterman placed third in the 200 IM and fourth in the 100 butterfly.
Avery Mitchell took third in the 100 free and fourth in the 50 free, while Skylar Powell was third in the 50 free and fourth in the 100 free.
Also for the Cardinals, Hally Philpot placed third in the 100 breaststroke, Allie Eggleston took fifth in the 500 free and Alix Davis was fifth in the 100 backstroke.
The Cardinals finished second in two relays.
Webb City’s team of Powell, Davis, Olivia Honey and Mitchell placed second in the 200 freestyle relay.
Powell, Mitchell, Davis and Whitesell took second in the 400 free relay in 3:48, a time that broke the pool record but was one second back of Carl Junction.
In the 1-meter diving competition, Webb City’s Kelly Tollefson took first, and teammate Keira McDonald was the runner-up.
The Cardinals captured the team title despite being disqualified in two key events, the 200 medley relay and the 100 free (Davis).
“When you DQ the first relay, you can easily see the team get deflated, but they didn’t,” Coach Klosterman said. “Those DQs probably cost us 39 points or so. Those things happen. I’m just glad they were troopers about it and kept fighting.”
CARL JUNCTION HIGHLIGHTS
Carl Junction’s Chloe Miller (center) is pictured after winning the 100-yard freestyle. Also pictured are Nixa’s Aspyn Howard and Webb City’s Avery Mitchell (right).
The Bulldogs won five events.
“We did lights out,” Coach Miller said. “We were amazing. I thought we’d lose by over 20 points. To be that close to Webb City, we did amazing. I didn’t think we’d get any records and we ended up with three. The girls did great today. And a lot of depth showed up.”
Carl Junction junior Chloe Miller won two individual events and played a key role on two winning relays.
Miller won the 50-yard freestyle in 24.81 seconds, a meet and pool record time. Miller also took first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 55.28 seconds.
Skyler Sundy won the 100 breaststroke (1:01) and was the runner-up in the 50 free (25.61), while Madeleine Garoutte took second in both the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly.
Also for the Bulldogs, Abigail Holcomb took fourth in the 100 breaststroke, Sophia Holcomb placed fifth in the 100 butterfly and was sixth in the 500 freestyle, while Elyanna Dogotch was sixth in the 100 free and Sydney Ward took sixth in the 100 breaststroke.
Carl Junction won two of the three relays.
The team of Garoutte, Sundy, Dogotch and Miller won the 200 freestyle relay in a meet and pool record time of 1:43.19.
Carl Junction’s 400 free relay team of Garoutte, Sundy, Dogotch and Miller won in a meet and pool record time of 3:47.53.
The Bulldogs placed third in the 200 medley relay, with Kennedy Johnson, Abigail Holcomb, Sophia Holcomb and Ward competing.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
The Tigers won four events on their way to a fourth-place team finish.
“This is a tough meet,” Tigers coach Braden McBride said. “We figured we might get fourth because the top three teams are pretty loaded. We’re pretty happy with how we performed. We had a lot of personal bests today.”
Carthage’s Madison Riley is pictured during the COC Meet on Thursday at Webb City. Photo by Jessica Greninger.
Carthage senior Madison Riley won two individual events in record-breaking fashion.
Riley won the 200 freestyle with a conference and pool record time of 1:57. She also took first in the 100 butterfly with a COC and pool record time of 58.79 seconds.
“Madison did really well,” McBride said. “This pool is not real fast, but we recorded a lot of great times and personal bests. For Madison to go as fast as she did, that shows her training is right on track. We’re really happy with how she’s developing.”
Carthage freshman Olivia Manning won the 100 breaststroke in 1:13.
“Olivia was seeded second and won it as a freshman,” McBride said. “She’s got a bright future.”
Carthage’s 200 medley relay team of Aubree Santillan, Manning, Riley and Kamryn Dininger took first place in 1:56, a school record time.
The Tigers placed third in the 200 freestyle relay, with Riley, Santillan, Manning and Joey Hettinger competing.
Carthage was fifth in the 400 free relay, with Dininger, Jekaterina Arnold, Hettinger and Reese Lee competing.
Santillan placed third in the 100 backstroke and was also fifth in the 50 free, while Manning placed fourth in the 200 IM.
JOPLIN HIGHLIGHTS
Joplin’s top finish came in the final event of the night, as the team of Kiki Thom, Allysun Higdon, Megan Walser and Lily Rakes placed fourth in the 400 freestyle relay.
The Eagles were fifth in the 200 medley relay, with Rakes, Taegen Smith, Thom and Walser competing.
Joplin’s 200 freestyle relay team of Brylea Smith, Lydia Barwick, Izzy Zamanzadeh and Allysun Higdon placed sixth.
As far as individual events for the Eagles, Rakes placed sixth in the 100 backstroke, while Thom finished sixth in the 100 butterfly and seventh in the 200 IM.
Taegen Smith and Brylea Smith finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 100 breaststroke, and Walser was ninth in the 500 freestyle.
COC RECORDS SET
200 freestyle: Madison Riley, CAR, 1:57
100 butterfly: Riley, CAR, 58.79
200 IM: Sophia Whitesell, WC, 2:16.39
50 freestyle: Chloe Miller, CJ, 24.81
200 freestyle relay: Carl Junction, 1:43.19
400 freestyle relay: Carl Junction, 3:47.53
The Joplin Eagles were among the teams competing at the COC Girls Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday in Webb City. Photos by Jessica Greninger.
LAMAR, Mo. — Neosho went on the road and jumped out to a fast start in a comfortable 76-42 win over Lamar on Tuesday.
The Wildcats improved to 15-4 after building an 11-point margin following the first eight minutes and never letting up. Neosho led 44-22 at halftime and pushed the lead to 30 to start the final eight minutes.
Isaiah Green had a game-high 22 points to lead Neosho. Carter Fenske closed right behind with 18 points, while Collier Hendricks also finished in double figures with 12 points in the win. Carter Baslee added eight points, with Michael Day scoring seven.
Neosho is at Nixa (15-0) on Tuesday in Central Ozark Conference action.
WEBB CITY, Mo. — The visiting Carthage Tigers won 12 of the 13 varsity matches on their way to a dominant 68-6 dual win on Tuesday over their rival Webb City at the Cardinal Dome.
Carthage won eight matches by pin, one tech fall, one decision, and three by forfeit (120 and 126 pounds). The Tigers scored the first 30 and the final 38 points of the dual Tuesday.
“The boys did a really good job,” Carthage coach Kenny Brown said. “Right now, it’s about getting ready for the conference tournament this weekend, which is going to be a meat grinder. We’re going to see some very serious competition, and everything’s about getting prepared for that. That’s why we wrestle three duals this week leading up to it. We want to try to get everybody to peak because we’ve got conference and in a couple weeks after that, we’ve got districts and then state. It’s time to get after it.”
Carthage returns to the Cardinal Dome on Saturday for the Central Ozark Conference Tournament, an event during which the Tigers placed fifth last season with 134.5 points and behind Ozark (178.5), Carl Junction (155.5), Nixa (149.5), and Neosho (138.5).
“Just at 165 alone, you’ve got three state finalists, a state placer, and another qualifier,” Brown said. “That’s five solid wrestlers, and that’s just one example. This is one of the tougher conferences in the state and a lot of times, matches we’ll see here might be tougher than the ones we actually see early in the state tournament. That’s one great thing about being in this conference, it helps prepare you for what’s down the road.”
The Tigers possibly travel Thursday to Springfield for duals against the host Springfield Central and fellow guest Waynesville.
“We’ve got a double dual with Springfield Central and Waynesville, which are two district opponents,” Brown said. “It’s important to get that one in, so hopefully the weather doesn’t stop that because it will be important for district seeding.”
In the dual Tuesday, Carthage’s Tanner Putt (106) pinned Tyler Pearish in 41 seconds, Alberto Salas (113) pinned Kyler Butler with 22 seconds remaining in the third period, Grady Huntley (120) and Israel Perez (126) each won by forfeit, and Bradyn Tate (132) pinned Colt Taylor in 3:15 for the first 30 points.
Kip Castor (144) pinned Carson Farmer in 47 seconds, Grey Petticrew (150) pinned Aidan Rose in 1:28, Trey Nye (157) won a 18-3 tech fall against Dominic Boles, Davion King (165) pinned Bronson Collard in 26 seconds, Gabe Lambeth (175) pinned Enrique Hernandez in 41 seconds, Esvin Gonzalez (190) won 7-4 against Jace Cartright, and David Recinos (285) pinned Garret Mathis in 1:56 to collect the final 38 points.
Webb City’s Aiden Moore (138) pinned Blayne Benefiel with 17 seconds remaining in the first period for the Cardinals’ lone points.
The Cardinals honored seniors Moore, Boles, Rose, and Kylie Jennings before Tuesday’s varsity dual.
TATE SETS RECORD
Coach Brown said Bradyn Tate set a new CHS 132-pound record for most falls with 25. The previous record of 24 was held and set by Jared Patrick (’97), Aaron Groom (’07), and Hunter Yust (’15).
JASPER, Mo. — Thomas Jefferson’s boys basketball team improved to 12-4 on the season with a double-digit road win victory over the Jasper Eagles on Tuesday night.
Tyler Brouhard poured in 30 points and Jay Ball added 25, as the TJ duo nearly outscored the Eagles by themselves.
Brouhard hit four 3-pointers and Ball grabbed 10 rebounds.
Also for the Cavaliers, Levi Triplett scored six points and Kip Atteberry had five. Tony Touma (3) and Kohl Thurman (2) rounded out the TJ scoring.
Wyatt Durman scored 21 points for Jasper, while Wyatt Cawyer added 14 and Gage Hall had 13.
The Cavaliers used a 20-9 second quarter to take a 33-19 halftime advantage.
The second half was nearly even, as the Eagles outscored the Cavaliers 40-38 after the break.
“Hats off to Jasper, Skip (Brock) has done a great job with those kids,” Thomas Jefferson coach Chris Myers said. “They stepped up, played well, and hit some big shots in the second half. Offensively, I was very pleased. Defensively, we’ve got to be better as we head into conference play and into next week’s Warrior Classic. Overall though, I felt our kids did a good job of doing what they had to do tonight.”
Thomas Jefferson is at Golden City on Thursday night.
Jasper (7-12) is at Liberal on Friday.
THOMAS JEFFERSON GIRLS 49, JASPER 48
JASPER, Mo. — The Thomas Jefferson girls earned a close road win.
Thomas Jefferson trailed by two entering the fourth quarter, but the Cavaliers outscored the Eagles 13-10 in the final frame to earn the come from behind win.
Gabbi Hiebert scored 20 points for Thomas Jefferson, while Lannah Grigg added 18.
Crystal Smith led Jasper with 10 points and Mercadez Scott had 13.
Thomas Jefferson (9-6) is at Golden City on Thursday.
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — The Nevada Tigers definitely finished strong in Tuesday’s 70-50 non-conference victory over Carl Junction.
The Tigers led by eight points at the end of the third period, but the visitors erupted for 24 points in the final frame to turn a close game into a rout.
Nevada doubled up Carl Junction over the final eight minutes, 24-12.
The 70 points is a season-high for the Tigers.
Nevada improved to 8-11, while Carl Junction slipped to 6-12.
Four players scored in double figures for the Tigers.
Sophomore guard Jack Cheaney scored 21 points and hit four 3-pointers for the Tigers, while senior guard Cade Beshore added 16 points, also hitting four treys.
Senior forward Drew Beachler scored 13 points for the Tigers, while junior guard Brice Budd added 10.
Nevada made 17 of 28 free throw attempts.
The Tigers hit nine 3-pointers to Carl Junction’s two.
Senior forward Ayden Bard scored 22 points to lead Carl Junction.
Freshman guard Cooper Vediz added seven points for the Bulldogs, while sophomore forward Wyatt McAfee had six.
The Tigers held a 13-10 advantage at the end of the back and forth first quarter.
Nevada took an 11-point lead at 27-16 after five straight points from Cheaney. But the Bulldogs reeled off five straight points, as Jett Hocut hit a 3-pointer and Ky Warren scored in the lane.
A bucket from Beachler gave Nevada a 29-21 halftime advantage.
In the third quarter, Nevada went up 13 at 43-30 after Cheaney’s pull-up jumper.
The Bulldogs scored six straight points, two hoops from Bard and another from Brody Pant, but Nevada’s Beshore buried a 3-pointer for a 10-point cushion.
Bard’s tip-in at the buzzer cut CJ’s deficit to 46-38 at the end of the third period.
Nevada started the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run to put the game away, as the Tigers held a 58-40 lead with just over three minutes to play.
The McAuley Catholic girls basketball team turned a 32-12 advantage in the first and third quarters into a 57-39 win on Monday night against the visiting Wheaton Bulldogs in Ozark 7 Conference play.
Half of McAuley’s six varsity players reached double figures and five of the six netted at least seven points Monday.
Wheaton led 3-1 early on, before McAuley Catholic went on a 9-0 run and never looked back, leading 19-9 after one quarter, 36-22 at halftime, and 49-25 after three.
“Our gameplan tonight was to jump on them early,” McAuley Catholic coach Mike Howard said. “The last two games, we didn’t play up to our level, so we put an emphasis on starting fast and getting the crowd in it and then coming out at halftime trying to make adjustments from how they scored in the second quarter.
“We wanted to keep the gas pedal down and putting all the pressure on them. We had several girls step up tonight scoring wise. Some of them usually don’t score that much, but I’ll take that any time I can get it.”
The Warriors benefited from it being Youth Basketball Night with all the fourth grade and fifth grade boys and girls, as well as their various parents and coaches, in attendance for being recognized at halftime of the girls contest.
Junior guard Kloee Williamson led McAuley Catholic with 16 points, 10 of which she produced in the second quarter and highlighted by a three late in the half that put the Warriors up 36-22.
Fellow juniors Kendall Ramsey and Avery Gardner added 14 and 11 points, respectively, while senior Lily Black and freshman Vanessa Diaz finished with nine and seven points.
Wheaton senior Allison Whitman scored a game-high 21 points and freshman Raelyn Buckhannan added 11, meaning Whitman and Buckhannan produced 32 of Wheaton’s 39 total points.
McAuley Catholic improved to 7-11 overall and 3-0 Ozark 7 with six consecutive wins headed into Thursday’s road contest against New Covenant Academy.
The 57 points are the new season high for the Warriors, besting their 55 points scored Dec. 13 in their first win of the season against Exeter.
“Six in a row right now and I think we are getting a little better each game,” Howard said. “The last two games previous to this one, I think we didn’t get much better. Tonight, though, we definitely improved. We shared the ball. We communicated on defense. We found their shooters when we had to … and more people took on scoring roles tonight. We did a good job of executing our offense and executing our gameplan.”
WHEATON BOYS 43, MCAULEY CATHOLIC 30
The Warriors started out strong in the first couple minutes of their game Monday, jumping out to a 6-2 early lead behind a pair of baskets from 6-foot-4 freshman Alex Bohachick and two free throws from sophomore point guard Michael Parrigon.
The visiting Bulldogs put the bite on McAuley Catholic, though, the rest of the game, outscoring the Warriors 8-4 the rest of the first quarter, 20-8 the rest of the first half, and 41-24 the last 30 minutes of the game.
“Hats off to Wheaton,” McAuley coach Tony Witt said. ” They outplayed us on every level. They earned the win.”
Wheaton juniors Zander Dutra and Michael Hang shared game-high scoring honors with 12 points each and sophomore Houston Roller added 10 points for the Bulldogs.
Bohachick led McAuley Catholic with nine points, all scored in the first and third quarters, while senior Noah Black had six, Parrigon and senior Jack Jones four each, senior Trey Martinez closed out the scoring with a three in the final seconds and juniors Bradley Wagner and Rocco Bazzano-Joseph each scored two points for the Warriors.
After scoring 10 points in the first quarter, matching Wheaton’s total after one, McAuley Catholic scored 20 points the final 24 minutes with four in the second, nine in the third, and seven in the fourth.
McAuley Catholic dropped to 5-13 overall and 0-2 Ozark 7, and the Warriors seek their first conference win Friday when they travel to Exeter.
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Joplin jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter and preserved that cushion all the way to a win over Willard in the seventh-place game of the Bill Hanson Memorial basketball tournament on Saturday.
The Eagles jumped out to a 12-point lead following the first eight minutes after outscoring Willard 26-14. The Tigers rallied back to cut Joplin’s lead to one by halftime, 39-38, but the Eagles pushed the lead to six to start the fourth and held on for the win.
Terrance Gibson led Joplin with a game-high 32 points, while All Wright finished with 16 points. Whit Hafter had 10 points, while Quin Renfro closed with eight.
Joplin is at Springfield Central on Tuesday.
GALENA BOYS 74, THOMAS JEFFERSON 41
LIBERAL, Mo. — The Galena Bulldogs from Southeast Kansas remained undefeated by beating Thomas Jefferson in the boys championship game of the Tony Dubray Classic on Saturday night at Liberal High School.
“Galena is a great team,” Cavaliers coach Chris Myers told SoMo Sports. “Though outmatched, I felt our kids did a good job of competing in the second half. As a coach, you hope playing teams like this help prepare you for big games down the stretch.”
The Bulldogs raced out to a 21-7 lead. Galena was up 38-16 at halftime and 64-33 by the end of the third quarter.
Thomas Jefferson fell to 11-4.
Tyler Brouhard scored 21 points and hit six 3-pointers for the Cavaliers. Jay Ball added 10 points.
Brouhard and Ball were both all-tourney selections.
Galena’s Tyler Little scored 15 points and was named tourney MVP. Maverick Harmon also scored 15 points for the Bulldogs.
Thomas Jefferson travels to Jasper on Tuesday night.
CARTHAGE BOYS 73, CHANUTE 28
CHANUTE, Kan. — Carthage outscored host Chanute 19-2 in the first quarter and never looked back in a win to wrap the Ralph Miller Classic on Saturday.
The Tigers scored 19 points in the second period, 22 in the third and closed the win with a 14-4 fourth quarter against the Comets.
Max Templeman, named to the all-tournament team, finished with 24 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Justin Ray knocked down four 3-balls on the way to 16 points, while Britt Coy finished with 14 points, also making two triples.
Carthage is at Nevada on Friday.
NEVADA BOYS 57, OWENSVILLE 40
FRONTENAC, Kan. — Nevada’s boys won the Four State Raider Classic’s seventh-place game in convincing fashion on Saturday at Frontenac High School.
Nevada held a 27-19 lead at halftime.
The Tigers outscored the Dutchmen 20-2 in the third period to take a comfortable 47-21 advantage into the final frame.
Three players reached double figures for the Tigers (7-11), as Jack Cheaney scored 13 points, Brice Budd added 12 and Drew Beachler had 10.
Nevada (7-11) is at Carl Junction on Tuesday. The two teams met earlier this season, with Nevada winning on a buzzer-beater.
OLATHE NORTH GIRLS 57, CARTHAGE 53
PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Carthage girls basketball wrapped up play in the Bill Hanson Memorial basketball tournament with a 57-53 loss to Olathe North in the fifth-place game.
Carthage (8-8) trailed by four heading into the second period before outscoring Olathe North 14-7 in the second period for a 25-22 lead by the intermission. Olathe North took a two-point cushion into the fourth quarter and held off Carthage down the stretch to earn the win.
“That was a great high school basketball game,” Carthage coach Scott Moore said to SoMo Sports. “Two teams fighting tooth and nail for 32 minutes. I’m really proud of how our team battled this weekend. However, there are some little things we need to get fixed to make sure the lessons we learn in these tournaments help us down the road when we have similar battles in the COC.”
Kianna Yates led Carthage with a game-high 27 points, which included two 3-pointers and seven free throws. Lauren Choate added 10 points, while Jaidyn Brunert finished seven.
“Kianna Yates had a phenomenal game,” Moore said. “Every time that Olathe North made a little run, Kianna got us a basket to stop their momentum and swing it back our way.”
Carthage hosts Seneca on Thursday.
COLLEGE HEIGHTS SQUADS END LANCER CLASSIC
CHEROKEE, Kan. — The College Heights Christian boys basketball team defeated Riverton 58-52 in the third-place game of the Lancer Classic.
The Cougars improved to 12-4.
The College Heights girls suffered a 41-38 setback to Riverton in the tourney’s third-place game.
“For the second game in a row, we dug ourselves in a hole with a slow start,” College Heights coach John Blankenship said. “We trailed 9-0 before we slowly began chipping away at their lead.”
CHC’s Libby Fanning hit a 3-pointer to pull the Cougars within four at halftime.
“We took the lead late in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hold it down the stretch,” Blankenship said. “Jayli Johnson almost tied the game on a halfcourt shot that spun out of the basket. We have played two larger schools this week and competed down to the wire. I am proud of my players. I have no doubt we got better this week, which is our primary objective heading into conference games and postseason play.”
Fanning scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and recorded a double-double in every game of the tournament.
Addie Lawrence hit a pair of 3-pointers for six points.
Johnson and Fanning were named to the all-tournament team.
FRONTENAC, Kan. — A solid effort wasn’t enough for the Nevada High School girls basketball team in the championship game of the Four State Raider Classic.
A strong finish led Blue Springs to a 55-44 victory over Nevada in the tournament’s title game on Saturday afternoon at Frontenac High School.
Up one entering the fourth quarter, the Wildcats outscored the Tigers 15-5 in the final frame to secure the event’s championship for the second straight season.
“I’m super proud of our girls,” Tigers coach Blake Howarth said. “The effort was there, they competed well. Blue Springs is a tough team. They’re a Class 6 school, we’re a Class 4 school, and we competed down to the wire.”
The Tigers had to finish the contest without the services of standout junior guard Clara Swearingen, who fouled out.
“It was tough,” Howarth said of finishing the game without Swearingen. “She’s our leading scorer and I think she’s only eight points away from 1,000 career points now. We needed her on the floor. I thought Maddy Majors did a good job of stepping up once Clara went out. Clara has to understand how they’re calling the game and not to pick up silly fouls. But that’s something we’ll be able to take away from this game and learn from.”
Nevada held a 31-27 halftime advantage, but the Wildcats outscored the Tigers 13-8 in the third quarter for a 40-39 lead.
Blue Springs started the fourth quarter on a 9-2 surge to take control. Nevada was plagued by empty possessions in the fourth quarter.
Nikole Schnell and Jayla Cornelius scored 15 points apiece for the Class 6 Wildcats (9-7).
Senior guard Maddy Majors led Nevada with 17 points. Katie Johnson scored 13 points and Swearingen added 11 points. Swearingen was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Nevada slipped to 15-4.
Howarth noted there’s a lot to like about how his team is currently playing.
“I’m happy with where we’re at right now,” Howarth said. “We’ve shown a lot of growth since last year. I’m happy with what we accomplished in this tournament. There were years where we left here winless or with just one win. This year, we won two competitive games and played for the championship here, so I’m super proud.”
PITTSBURG, Kan. — With one second left in regulation and the game tied at 39-39, Carl Junction’s Klohe Burk stepped to the charity stripe and drilled a pair of pressure-packed free throws to send the Bulldogs home with a 41-39 victory as well as the claim to the Bill Hanson Memorial basketball tournament title on championship Saturday at Pittsburg High School.
“There are not a lot of people who would like to be in that situation because it is pretty nerve-racking,” Carl Junction coach Brad Shorter said about Burk’s clutch free throws to clinch the tournament championship win. “She just walked up there with ice in her veins and just knocked them both down. Nothing but net, like she’d do it every time. She would, too. She is such a great kid and she works so hard. It couldn’t have happened to a better person right there.”
The win over the Chiefs (12-5) facing more than a 20-point deficit was quite a journey for the Bulldogs (15-1), who ultimately trailed 31-13 after an energy-deprived first half. But Carl Junction righted the ship in the third quarter, and it started on the defensive end. The Bulldogs held Kickapoo off the scoreboard completely in the third period, shrinking the deficit to eight points to start the fourth quarter. CJ used a quick surge with three minutes left to tie the game down the stretch before Burk’s free throws sealed the win.
“That was one of the worst first halves we played all year,” Shorter added about the win. “We didn’t come out with very good energy. We didn’t rebound the ball. We just didn’t play very tough. I challenged them in back to back timeouts and again at halftime.
“I thought we came out with more toughness in the second half, obviously. Holding them to no points in the third quarter was a big piece of that victory. Klohe was phenomenal defensively—just phenomenal defensively, and so was Kylie (Scott) in the second half. And she was grabbing rebounds, and so was Dezi (Williams).
“A program as rich in tradition as Kickapoo, and they were 21 up, you start to think, ‘I don’t know if we can do this.’ It was getting to that line where you start to waver a little bit. Man, our kids fought back, we were really tough and we got some good things accomplished in the second half to get this win.”
GAME ACTION
Kickapoo knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half and led by as much as 21 points, 29-8, with 2:36 left in the first half before a Burk 3-pointer and a bucket in the paint from Scott helped trim the deficit to 18 by the break.
The momentum flipped almost instantly out of the locker room, as Williams knocked down a 3-pointer early and the Bulldogs began to chip away at the Chiefs’ advantage. Destiny Buerge followed with two free throws before Scott buried a corner 3-pointer with 3:50 to play to cut the deficit to 10, 31-21. Burk closed the third-quarter scoring with a steal and score on the break with 1:21 left to send the Bulldogs into the final eight minutes down 31-23.
“At times, we have been able to do that to some teams—some quality teams,” Shorter said about keeping the Chiefs off the scoreboard for the entire third quarter. “A lot of it is just getting locked in and knowing we are all on the same page. There were countless times in that first half that we weren’t on the same page. Our kids weren’t communicating or talking, our body language was pretty poor, and we discussed that. I said I wasn’t going to be a part of this if our body language was going to be that bad because our program prides itself on good body language, good chemistry and being a class-act team. We did that in the second half. We turned it around and played tougher, and that was a huge reason for our run to cut into their 18-point lead.”
After the Chiefs pushed the lead back to 10 early in the fourth with a pair of 1-for-2 trips at the three-throw line, Scott put CJ on her back to jumpstart the final push towards the lead—knocking down a 3-pointer from the top of the key before drawing contact on several straight possessions attacking the basket that culminated in a perfect 6-for-6 shooting at the stripe to trim the lead to 37-32 with three minutes left.
“It’s incredible what she is able to do,” Shorter said of Scott’s play in the second half, particularly down the stretch in the fourth quarter. “When you look at our team, with the exception of Kylie, everybody is about (5-foot-8), 5-6 or 5-7. The teams we are seeing here—last night was 6-4, 6-foot, 6-foot and 6-1. Kickapoo—6-3 and a number of girls who are 6-foot. She is working against a lot of big kids in there. The key for her early is if she feels a double, to kick it out and get back. In the second half, she was able to do some things outside and she is a monster inside. Her toughness was incredible late.”
Buerge came up with a steal and a layup on the break the other way to cut the lead to three with two and a half minutes to play before Williams buried a 3-pointer from the wing with 1:43 left to tie the game at 37-all.
The Chiefs briefly jumped out in front after a pair of three throws from Makayla Pilley with 50.8 seconds left. Scott, who finished with 11 points in the fourth quarter, tied the game up almost immediately into the next possession.
Kickapoo missed a mid-range bucket and a putback attempt on the next trip down with 15 seconds left, with Scott grabbing the defensive rebound and finding Burk with the outlet pass, who drove to the hoop as time dwindled and drew the foul with one second left to set up the game-winning makes at the charity stripe.
SCORING LEADERS
Scott led Carl Junction with a game-high 19 points to go along with 14 rebounds for a double-double. Williams finished with nine points, while Burk closed with seven in the win. Buerge closed with six.
Pilley finished with 10 points in the loss to lead Kickapoo in scoring. Josie Salazar finished with eight points.
UP NEXT
Carl Junction takes part in the I44 Lady’s Classic hosted by Lebanon with a matchup against Warrensburg (10-5) on Thursday.
FRONTENAC, Kan. — The Webb City Cardinals settled for the runner-up plaque at the Four State Raider Classic.
Edmond Santa Fe built a double-digit lead early in the game and never relinquished it en route to a 52-41 victory over Webb City on Saturday in the annual event’s championship game inside Frontenac High School.
“This game will help us down the road,” Cardinals coach Jason Horn said. “That was a good team we played, so this one will help prepare us for districts. This was good competition for us. I thought our guards did a good job of handling their pressure, so we learned from this game.”
The Cardinals were attempting to repeat as tourney champs, but a lack of offense and foul trouble were too much to overcome, and Santa Fe never trailed in this one.
“We had open looks, but we didn’t capitalize,” Horn said. “I think you have to give Santa Fe credit. They had a good game plan defensively. They blew some things up that we were trying to do. But with that said, we just didn’t capitalize when we had open looks early in the game.”
In the first meeting between the schools, the speedy and athletic Wolves from Oklahoma finished the first quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 16-6 lead.
Webb City started the second quarter on a 10-3 surge. Alex Martin scored seven points before Holton Keith knocked down a corner trey to trim Santa Fe’s lead to three.
But the Wolves responded with seven straight points to once again go up 10. A 3-pointer from Joe Adams cut Webb City’s halftime deficit to 28-19.
The Wolves doubled up the Cardinals in the third period, 14-7.
While the Cardinals struggled with empty possessions, Santa Fe scored the final eight points of the period to take a 42-26 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Two Webb City starters, Martin and Keith, both fouled out in the final frame.
However, the Cardinals didn’t go down quietly.
Webb City outscored Santa Fe 15-10 over the final eight minutes, and two free throws from Jonah Spieker and a pair of 3-pointers from Barron Duda trimmed the Cardinals’ deficit to 10 with 1:21 to play.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the late burst was too little, too late.
“I have to give our kids credit,” Horn said. “They didn’t quit. They kept battling. We kept trying to compete and we played physical.”
Webb City fell to 13-4 on the season.
The Cardinals went 14-for-41 on field goal attempts (34 percent), including 5-for-19 from beyond the arc.
Duda scored 14 points and Martin added 12 for Webb City. Eli Pace had seven points and three assists.
Duda and Martin were both named to the all-tourney team.
The Wolves made 18-of-44 field goal attempts (41 percent).
Kaysen Gipson scored 15 points for the Wolves and Drelen Nero added 13.
Santa Fe had a slight advantage in rebounds (31-26). Webb City had 17 turnovers to Santa Fe’s 14.
Webb City will host Hillcrest on Tuesday night in a non-conference clash inside the Cardinal Dome.
NEOSHO, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats had just a little timelier defense and just a little timelier offense during their 65-62 overtime win on Friday night against state-ranked and previously one-loss Forsyth.
The Wildcats came through with some critical defensive stops during both the fourth quarter and overtime, while Neosho players like Isaiah Green, Carter Baslee, Carter Fenske and Collier Hendricks all had their big offensive moments and shots throughout a game where neither team could get ahead by any more than a few points.
Forsyth’s Zack Strahan tied it up at 62 on a three with about 25 seconds remaining in overtime, then Green drove to the basket and drew the fifth personal foul against Forsyth’s 6-foot-10 sophomore Tanner Baird with six seconds left.
Green made both free throws and the Wildcats came up with a near steal in the backcourt at 4.7 seconds. Neosho called a timeout, set up the defense, and Green came up with a steal from Forsyth’s Drue Coen with 0.8 remaining.
Green made his first free throw and Forsyth’s final contested heave did not connect as time expired on the visiting Panthers.
“Everyone probably gets sick of me saying it, but that’s what we hang our hat on is defense,” Neosho coach Zane Culp said. “We had some very timely defensive plays. The boys got that steal at the end of the fourth quarter, where we felt like we had a chance to go win it right there. That was a great defensive stop. They scored right out of the gate in overtime, then they didn’t score for a long time. We just got a bunch of stops in a row. That was big.
“As far as timely offense, Collier Hendricks came through again hitting shots just like when we felt we needed them.”
Hendricks’ back-to-back threes in the fourth quarter gave the Wildcats a 53-51 lead after Neosho had fallen behind Forsyth late in the third and early in the fourth.
The teams exchanged scoring runs like that all game and headed into overtime tied at 57.
During overtime, Neosho played seniors Green, Baslee, Fenske, Kael Smith and Brock Franklin, a group of five players with extensive varsity experience.
Baslee scored Neosho’s first five points in overtime to put the Wildcats up 62-59 and they all contributed defensively to an overtime that saw Forsyth score only five points.
“That’s a very nice luxury,” Culp said of being able to play five seniors during overtime. “We have two (Jared Siler, Michael Day) on your bench if somebody were to foul out. We know who’s got us here and how they’ve done it. You feel pretty good about throwing those five guys out there.”
Green scored a game-high 28 points and managed to maintain some aggressiveness both offensively and defensively for the final almost 10 minutes after he earned his fourth personal with 5:38 remaining in regulation.
“He’s a great defender,” Culp said. “The only thing we get on to him about defense is that he sometimes goes for steals that don’t have a good chance of happening, then he picks up fouls that way. You know what, I almost wish he started with four fouls (Friday), because I thought he played better defense after that. It made him a little more disciplined and he only took advantage when he had to, so if we can get that mindset in him … but he’s a great defender and a great player and he’s fun to watch.”
Hendricks and Baslee each had nine points for the Wildcats, Fenske added eight, Smith had four, Day three and Siler and Franklin two each.
The Wildcats improved to 14-4 overall and they own a five-game winning streak headed into Tuesday’s contest on the road against Lamar.
Friday night’s game definitely lived up to the advanced hype and great expectations.
“We knew this was going to be a dogfight until the end,” Culp said. “There was a bunch of people here, it was exciting with a state-ranked and 14-1 team coming into town with a 6-10 kid and a kid (Ryder Blevins) who won the Tournament of Champions dunk contest (2022). It was a fun game, and it went kinda exactly how we imagined.”
The Wildcats had the crowd and noise advantage with their band, their cheerleaders, and their student section all performing at their peak levels.
“I love the band,” Culp said. “We love it when the band’s here. Not only do more of our students get to see us, but it’s also louder, we have more people in here anyway, and it just makes this place hard to play in, in my opinion. We’re undefeated at home in our regular-season games (7-1 overall), and I think a big reason why is our big following.”
Forsyth provided Neosho with a challenge that measures up to a conference game.
“It sure felt that way,” Culp said. “That’s what we talked about before the game. We couldn’t have a better game before going back into conference, just getting us ready with a battle-tested team who isn’t afraid to come in here and play. That’s exactly the kind of game we were looking for when we scheduled them.”
In the first meeting between the schools, the speedy and athletic Wolves from Oklahoma finished the first quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 16-6 lead. 