Seneca High School hosted the Midwest Materials Girls Wrestling Tournament on Friday.
There were nearly 20 schools in attendance.
Seneca had two individual champions, as Louzella Graham took first at 115 pounds and Liberty Cornell won the 155-pound bracket.
Seneca’s Tessa Kinslow finished third at 130.
Joplin’s Ericka Washom was the runner-up at 135 pounds. She suffered a 3-0 setback in the title bout to Columbus’ Aubree Saporito.
Also for the Eagles, Amy Kessler finished fourth at 145, Ilahna Burtrum was fifth at 190, CoryAunna Mueller took sixth at 115 and Olivia Higdon placed sixth at 140.
Webb City’s Kylie Jennings placed third at 135 pounds and Carl Junction’s Bryanna McCabe placed fifth at 120 pounds.
McDonald County’s Jaslyn Benhumea (115) and Gisel Aragon (170) both finished fourth, while Stacy Lopez-Apolinar (145) took fifth and Helen Martinez-Mazariegos (155) finished sixth.
Aurora’s Aubrey Simpson took third at 110 and Jasmine Koehler was fifth at 140.
The top six teams were Springdale Har-Ber (169), Chanute (166), Marshfield (166), Willard (127), Columbus (116) and Seneca (69.5).
NEVADA, Mo. — The Nevada boys basketball team suffered a 63-43 non-conference setback to Metro Academy (Kansas) on Friday night inside Wynn Gymnasium.
The hosts trailed 31-16 at halftime.
The third quarter was nearly even, but Metro Academy led 41-25 entering the fourth period.
Cade Beshore scored 12 points for the Tigers, while Caden Klumpp added 11. Three others, Drew Beachler, Jack Cheaney and Riddick Shook, contributed six points apiece.
The Mavericks hit 12 3-pointers in the game.
Metro Academy (13-5) received 24 points from Nathaniel Ferrell. He made seven 3-pointers.
For the third straight year, the Webb City Cardinals will play for a Kaminsky Classic championship.
Webb City torched the nets in the first half and never trailed on the way to a convincing 75-47 victory over Poplar Bluff on Friday night in the semifinals of the annual event at Joplin High School.
Winners of seven straight games, the Cardinals (9-2) will meet Francis Howell (7-3) in the tourney title game at 3:30 on Saturday.
“I’m excited about playing for the championship again,” Webb City coach Jason Horn said. “This group has worked really hard and they want to continue the legacy we’ve built with our basketball program. It’s their turn. They want to carry on our tradition at Webb City, and I know they’re excited. We’re going to give our best effort tomorrow.”
Webb City junior guard Barron Duda puts up a jumper against the defense of Poplar Bluff’s David Durbin during Friday’s Kaminsky Classic semifinal. Photo by Jessica Greninger.
Joplin edged Webb City in last year’s title game after the Cardinals beat the Eagles for the championship in ’21.
On Friday night, the Cardinals shot 65 percent from the field in the first half and held a comfortable 42-17 halftime advantage on their way to the lopsided win.
“The start to the game was phenomenal,” Horn said. “We shot the ball extremely well. A lot of it had to do with playing inside-out.”
Webb City came out firing from long distance, as the Cardinals hit four early 3-pointers, two apiece by Barron Duda and Holton Keith, taking a 13-2 lead.
The Cardinals led by 12 late in the first quarter before a trey from Gavin Rivers cut Webb City’s advantage to 22-13 entering the second period.
The Cardinals dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Mules 20-4 to take a commanding 25-point halftime cushion.
Four different Cardinals scored during the surge—Eli Pace, Alex Martin, Omari Jackson and Joe Adams, who knocked down a last-second trey that put a final exclamation point on the one-sided first half.
Webb City made 15 of 23 shot attempts in the opening half (65 percent), including 6 of 8 from beyond the arc. On the other hand, Poplar Bluff connected on just 7 of 22 field goal attempts (32 percent).
The Mules outscored the Cardinals 17-13 in the third period, but Webb City still held a 55-34 lead heading into the final frame.
“I thought we had a little bit of a letdown as far as focus in the second half,” Horn said. “It wasn’t in our favor to make it a track meet. But we were able to slow it down and we were able to execute.”
The Cardinals finished strong with a 20-point fourth quarter, as several of the team’s reserves got into the scoring column late in the contest.
A sophomore guard, Keith led Webb City with 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting. The 6-5 Martin scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Duda scored 13 points and made four 3-pointers, while Jackson contributed 11 points and three steals. Pace, a sophomore point guard, dished out six assists. A senior guard, Adams compiled four points, four assists and three steals.
Webb City senior forward Alex Martin scores inside against Poplar Bluff during Friday’s semifinal contest of the Kaminsky Classic. Photo by Jessica Greninger.
Horn noted he was proud of his team’s overall effort.
“Alex Martin was solid again tonight,” Horn said. “I thought our guard play was really good tonight. Eli Pace handled their pressure well and he set the tone for us. Holton Keith shot the ball extremely well and he got us going. They gave Barron some daylight and he made them pay. We want to have the ball in his hands a lot.”
For the game, Webb City made 28 of 51 field goal attempts (55 percent), including 9 of 17 from 3-point range. The Cardinals also took advantage of 21 Poplar Bluff turnovers.
The Mules made 18 of 51 shots (35 percent), including 5 of 18 from beyond the arc. Rivers led the Mules with 14 points and Darius Graham added 13.
Poplar Bluff will play Joplin for third place at 2 p.m.
2023 Kaminsky Classic
Friday’s results
William Chrisman 63, Neosho 60
Jefferson City 76, Carl Junction 54
Francis Howell 57, Joplin 49
Webb City 75, Poplar Bluff 47
Saturday’s schedule
7th place: Neosho vs. Carl Junction, 11 a.m.
5th place: Jefferson City vs. William Chrisman, 12:30
3rd place: Joplin vs. Poplar Bluff, 2
Title game: Francis Howell vs. Webb City, 3:30
Webb City’s Omari Jackson goes up for a layup against Poplar Bluff’s Brendan Durden on Friday night inside Joplin High School’s Kaminsky Gymnasium. The Cardinals beat the Mules 75-47 to advance to the tourney title game. Photos by Jessica Greninger.
Webb City’s Barron Duda looks for an opening during Friday’s game against Poplar Bluff at the 2023 Kaminsky Classic. Duda and the Cardinals advanced to Saturday’s title game.
Joplin’s bid to repeat as champions came to an end after struggles on the offensive end led to a 57-49 loss to Francis Howell in the semifinals of the Kaminsky Classic on Friday inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.
Joplin’s Terrance Gibson lays it during the Eagles’ loss to Francis Howell in the Kaminsky Classic semifinals on Friday. Photo by Jessica Greninger.
Though the Eagles (6-4) won the rebounding battle 39-27, Joplin shot just 27 percent from the field (16-for-60) in the loss, including 4-for-20 shooting from 3-point range and 13-of-21 at the free-throw line.
“I think it was mid-second quarter when we were up two on them and then they closed the first half on an 11-3 run, and it was simple stuff,” Joplin coach Bronson Schaake said after the loss. “We told our guys to beat them to the spot, but they have good bigs who know how to use their body and finish. It seemed like the second half was an up-and-down battle where we had chances to get back into the game but missed our opportunities and never did get that one big run to get us over the hump.”
UP NEXT
Joplin takes on Poplar Bluff in the third-place game at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“I want to see us bounce back,” Schaake said. “I think a few weeks ago when we lost to Lee’s Summit, we played the next day against Rogers (Arkansas) and played our best game of the year. I told the kids that yes, they’re not playing for a championship, but they need to come back tomorrow and respond because whoever we play is going to bring it to us.”
GAME ACTION
Joplin trailed by one heading into the second quarter before Whit Hafer, who sat much of the first half in foul trouble, made an instant impact upon checking in with a bucket in the paint off an inbounds pass to give the Eagles their first lead of the game, 13-12.
Joplin’s Quin Renfro pulls up for a jumper in the Eagles’ loss on Friday. Photo by Jessica Greninger.
Jude James answered back with an inside bucket to regain the lead for Francis Howell before Ben Toebben added a pair of free throws to push the Bears’ lead to 16-13.
Joplin used a 6-0 run with a mid-range jumper from All Wright and two free throws each from Hobbs Gooch and Cooper Williams to build a 19-16 advantage.
William Chrisman closed the first half on a 11-3 push to take a 27-22 cushion into the intermission. Brennan Wibbenmeyer had two baskets in the run, with Donovan Sparks knocking down a 3-point and contributing five points in the surge.
“We outrebounded them, and I think we had 12 offensive rebounds in the first half,” Schaake said. “We were around the bucket, we just didn’t finish stuff. We have big guys. We need to stop trying to lay it up and start dunking the thing. That needs to be our mindset—to get and-1s instead of maybe making one-of-two from the free-throw line. We need to finish more around the bucket.”
Francis Howell pushed the lead to nine early in the second half off of buckets from Jeremiah Poniewaz and Sparks before a 3-pointer from Wright from the wing trimmed the Eagles’ deficit to 31-25.
The lead hovered in that area until back to back 3-pointers from Quin Renfro and Wright cut the Bears’ lead to one possession, 37-35, with 1:20 left in the period. William Chrisman ended up taking a 39-35 lead into the final eight minutes.
“He got into a rhythm,” Schaake said of Wright, who was four-of-eight from the field in the third quarter. “Once he sees it go in one or two times, confidence comes with it. They were trapping him pretty hard and he was trying to find the guys to flash the middle and attack. We just just need more guys to finish down there and that will help open his game up more.”
Joplin’s Fred Taylor drives to the hoop during the Eagles’ loss on Friday. Photo by Jessica Greninger.
The Eagles got a free throw out of the break from Gooch to cut the lead to three, but that would be as close to the lead as Joplin would get down the stretch. Francis Howell went to the line 14 times in the fourth quarter and made every charity attempt to help stave off the Eagles. The Vikings were a perfect 20-for-20 shooting from the stripe in the win.
STAT LEADERS
Francis Howell—which won the battle in the paint 34-20 and shot 53 percent from the field in the win—was led in scoring by Sparks’ 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, adding 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double. James had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Dwight Lomax finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
Wright led Joplin in scoring with a game-high 25 points on 8-of-30 shooting, 3-for-14 from the perimeter to go along with six-of-seven shooting from the stripe. He added five rebounds, four steals and two assists. Renfro and Terrance each added seven points and combined for 16 rebounds. Gooch added eight rebounds and four points.
The visiting Pierce City Eagles entered the TJ Fieldhouse and earned a pair of varsity wins on Friday night against the Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers.
In the nightcap, Pierce City held on for a 41-39 win over a Thomas Jefferson team ranked seventh in Class 1 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association.
Pierce City’s Quortin Parks broke a 39-all score with a contested jumper, Pierce City senior Zane Clayton stepped in and took a pair of charges from Thomas Jefferson senior Tyler Brouhard, and the Eagles denied Brouhard, who hit a three for that 39-all score, any opportunity to hit a game-winning shot in the final seconds.
After building a 14-12 lead headed into the second quarter, Thomas Jefferson showed frequent signs of rust with four points in the second and eight in the fourth reflective of that.
There’s a good reason for that — Thomas Jefferson had last played Dec. 12 against Lockwood, giving the Cavaliers 25 days between games.
“It’s the storyline every year at this time of the year for us,” Thomas Jefferson coach Chris Myers said. “We looked like a team that hadn’t played a game since Dec. 12. We can’t use that as an excuse. Game’s been on the schedule, and we knew it was coming. We just didn’t play very well, from top to bottom. Too many turnovers, too many empty possessions on offense. We worked hard and got stops on defense, but we didn’t allow ourselves to be patient enough on the offensive end to get good looks and that’s the story of the game.”
Pierce City took advantage of Thomas Jefferson senior center Jay Ball’s absence in the second quarter, scoring the first nine points of the quarter to jump ahead 21-14.
The Eagles went into halftime with a 27-18 lead after their 15-4 second quarter.
“Jay’s in foul trouble,” Myers said. “Any time our big man’s in foul trouble, we’re a different basketball team. We had to play four minutes of that second quarter with him on the bench, trying to survive, and some of those younger kids stepped up and kept us in the game a little bit. At the end of the day, we had the ball with a chance to tie it or take the lead. We just didn’t get it done.”
Ball led all scorers with 16 points, Brouhard finished with 11 points, Levi Triplett scored all four of his points in the first quarter, Tony Touma and Ethan Renger each knocked down a trifecta during Thomas Jefferson’s second-half charge on the Eagles’ lead, and freshman Kohl Thurman made a pair of free throws as Thomas Jefferson entered the bonus late in the third.
“We’ve got to continue to grow,” Myers said. “We’ve got some young kids and some inexperienced kids that are getting a lot of varsity minutes right now. They’re moving forward and we’re happy about that. We’re going to keep on continuing to put it all together and be on the right side of some more of these.”
Thomas Jefferson dropped to 7-2 overall and the Cavaliers return to action Monday on the road against Sarcoxie.
Emmitt Price led Pierce City (7-6) with 13 points Friday, Parks scored eight of his 10 points after halftime, Luke Perry scored all eight of his points in the first half, Clayten O’Hara added seven, Clayton two, and Austin Beaty one.
PIERCE CITY GIRLS 57, THOMAS JEFFERSON 28
Pierce City ended the first quarter Friday with a 15-2 scoring run and a 17-7 lead on the host Thomas Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson started out strong with a Gabbi Hiebert field goal and a trifecta staking the Cavaliers to a 5-2 lead.
Pierce City led 32-15 at halftime and 53-22 after three quarters.
Pierce City’s Olivia Stanphill led all scorers with 19 points, Ayla Renkoski scored 11 of her 13 points in the third quarter, the trio of Madi Tindell, Rylie O’Hara and Macie Crowther each netted six points, Keishia Delgado scored Pierce City’s first two points and finished with three, and freshmen Faron Linn and Emma Hunt each scored two points for the 8-6 Eagles.
Sophomore center Lannah Grigg led Thomas Jefferson with 11 points, Hiebert finished with nine, and Tannah Grigg and Sarah Mueller each scored their four points in the second half.
Thomas Jefferson fell to 5-3 overall and the Cavaliers are back on the court Tuesday at home against Southwest.
CARTHAGE, Mo. — A night after earning a 64-39 win over McDonald County, the Carthage boys basketball team earned its second blowout victory in as many nights with a 73-46 win over East Newton on Friday.
On a night where guard Max Templeman surpassed the 1,000-point career scoring mark, Carthage jumped out fast with a 14-point lead after the first quarter. The Patriots cut the lead to nine by halftime but the Tigers put the game out of reach in the third period after outscoring East Newton 25-8.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 7-5 on the season.
Justin Ray led the Tigers in scoring with a team-high four 3-pointers leading to a game-high 22 points. Templeman sank two 3-balls on the way to 16 points, while Clay Kinder had one perimeter make and finished with 16 points.
The Carl Junction Bulldogs fell 76-54 to Jefferson City in the Kaminsky Classic consolation semifinals on Friday and will conclude tourney play against COC rival Neosho in the seventh-place game at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The Bulldogs only trailed by three at the end of the first quarter before the Jays extended their advantage to seven by halftime at 32-25.
But the Jays pulled away in the third quarter by outscoring the Bulldogs 22-10. With that, Jeff City took a 54-35 lead into the fourth period.
The Bulldogs were unable to make a serious run in the final frame.
The Jays, who never trailed in this one, had four players score in double figures. Tripp Maassen scored 16, Steven Samuels had 15, Judah Harris added 12 and Kendric Johnson had 11.
The Jays made 30 of 55 field goal attempts (55 percent) and hit 12 3-pointers.
Carl Junction shot 45 percent from the floor (22 of 49), but went just 3-for-13 from beyond the arc.
Ayden Bard scored 16 points to lead the Bulldogs, while Cooper Vediz added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Jett Hocutt scored seven points and Wyatt McAfee added six for the Bulldogs, who fell to 5-7.
Jefferson City (8-4) will take on William Chrisman (6-5) in the tourney’s fifth-place game at 12:30 on Saturday.
Neosho took a six-point lead into the fourth quarter only for William Chrisman rallied to tie the game by the end of regulation before going on to beat the Wildcats in overtime of the consolation semifinals in the Kaminsky Classic on Friday.
The Bears (6-5) jumped out in front of the overtime period with a bucket on the drive by Aidan Chavez before a pair of free throws by Trey Taylor pushed the advantage to 57-53. Neosho’s Isaiah Green drew contact on a jumper and converted the and-1 free throw with 2:53 left to trim the deficit to one, 57-56. The William Chrisman lead fluctuated between three points and one point over the remaining two-plus minutes with Neosho (9-4) unable to gain the lead before the final horn.
Trey Taylor led William Chrisman in scoring with 26 points to go along with a team-high three assists. Chavez added 10 points and six rebounds. Say’V’on Lankford had nine points and six boards.
Kael Smith led Neosho in scoring with 19 points as well as five rebounds. Carter Baslee added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Green finished two assists shy of a triple-double, totaling 10 points, 12 rebounds and eight dimes. He also swiped a team-high four steals on the defensive end.
Neosho takes on Carl Junction in the seventh-place game at 11 a.m.
