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Day: February 1, 2023

MERCY/WARRIOR CLASSIC: College Heights boys, girls both win opening games; McAuley boys, girls both drop openers

Posted on by Lucas Davis

The final game on the opening night of the 40th annual Mercy/Warrior Classic presented a study in opposites between the College Heights Christian Cougars and the tournament host McAuley Catholic Warriors on Tuesday.

College Heights relied heavily on 6-foot-5 senior Curtis Davenport and 6-4 junior Caleb Quade for the majority of their points, scored inside the paint against a smaller Warriors team.

McAuley Catholic senior Noah Black and junior Rocco Bazzano-Joseph had the shooting touch going Tuesday night, Bazzano-Joseph in the first half and Black the second and proved responsible for six of the eight 3-point goals made by the Warriors.

Davenport and Quade combined for 46 points and their effort, coupled with McAuley Catholic cooling off during critical stretches of the second half, propelled College Heights to a 59-48 win.

“That’s the way it’s been with us,” College Heights coach Eric Johnson said. “Not shooting the ball well outside, you’ve got to go inside for a higher-percentage shot. They made eight 3s and most of them were wide open, too, so we did a poor job of rotating and getting out on the shooters. We just didn’t close out well on shooters, and they knocked shots down. It’s a credit to them hitting open 3s, and it kept them in the game.”

“I think we’re peaking at the right time,” McAuley Catholic coach Tony Witt said. “I don’t think our record is an indication of how good we are. In our 14 losses now, we’ve only truly been blown out three times. One of those times we were up at halftime. The other two were legitimate blowout losses against teams that were more athletic and just better clubs than us.

“We’ve been in a lot of games. We’ve lost eight games by a total of 27 points, so we’ve been in games all year. Tonight, down four (50-46) in the fourth, we just couldn’t close it out.”

Davenport scored a game-high 28 points with 17 of them in the second half and Quade finished with 18 points, slowed down in the second half somewhat by foul trouble after scoring 12 in the first half.

Logan Decker added six points, Jayce Walker three, and Ben Thomas and Ethan Ukena two points each for the Cougars, who improved to 16-4 overall this season.

“They’re well-coached and those kids didn’t give up,” Johnson said. “They kept coming back. I thought they outscrapped us. They got a lot of loose balls that we didn’t get and I’m a little disappointed in our kids for that part. … Once we get the ball inside, we feel like we have a good chance of scoring.”

Black scored 12 of his 16 points after halftime, while Bazzano-Joseph heated up in the first half and made four 3-point baskets for 12 of his 14 points before halftime.

Michael Parrigon added seven points, Bradley Wagner six, Joe Staton three and Jack Jones two points for the Warriors, who dropped to 6-14 on the season.

“It (3-point shooting) was good in the first half, it wasn’t good in the second half,” Witt said. “I think we had a few too quick possessions there in the second half and they were able to stretch it out to a point where we couldn’t get back in the game.

“I give my guys credit, though, coming up off two days of school and playing a phenomenal team like College Heights. They’ve got a lot of kids who’ve had a lot of success the last couple years. Winning breeds winning, and for us to be that close, it says a lot about our character this late in the year.”

 

COLLEGE HEIGHTS GIRLS 46, THOMAS JEFFERSON 14

Fourth-seeded College Heights limited fifth-seeded Thomas Jefferson to four points in the first and fourth quarters and three each in the second and third quarters during their quarterfinal game on Tuesday in the 40th annual Mercy/Warrior Classic.

College Heights trailed just once early at 2-1, then never looked back after 14 unanswered points gave the Cougars a 15-2 advantage late in the first quarter.

College Heights parlayed a 16-4 first and a 16-3 second quarter into a 32-7 halftime score.

“Our defense was really good tonight,” College Heights coach John Blankenship said. “We rotated out of the press very well and we keyed in on a couple of their key players and tried to prevent them from getting too many open looks tonight. We did a good job of denying them the ball, so I was very pleased with our defense.

“Our defense generally initiates our offense. We play good defense, we get in the passing lanes, we get some steals, and we get some leak outs in transition for some easy baskets that way. Our defense is always key to our offense.”

Libby Fanning recorded a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Maddy Colin added 10 points for the Cougars, who improved to 12-7 overall this season.

“Libby had another great game tonight,” Blankenship said. “She was pretty consistent, I thought. Maddy stepped up, she got in there and crashed the boards, got some easy putbacks for us, and finished her layups. Libby and Maddy both played great tonight.”

Addie Lawrence added six points, Ava Lett and Jesalin Bever three each, Jayli Johnson, Allie Stout and Lauren Ukena two each, and Molly Long one point.

College Heights plays top seed Providence Academy or eighth-seeded Purdy in the semifinals Thursday night.

Gabbi Hiebert led Thomas Jefferson on Tuesday with five points, Tannah and Lannah Grigg each had four, and Nico Carlson scored her only point on a free throw in the third quarter.

The Cavaliers dropped to 9-8 overall.

 

AURORA GIRLS 59, MCAULEY CATHOLIC 32

McAuley Catholic junior guard Kloee Williamson’s career-high six 3-point baskets and team-high 20 points definitely proved to be a bright spot on Tuesday for the Warriors in their 28-point loss in the opening game of the 40th annual Mercy/Warrior Classic.

Second-seeded Aurora built a 40-16 halftime lead thanks to a 16-6 first and a 24-10 second quarter. The teams played more evenly in the second half with the Houn’ dawgs only adding three more points onto their lead.

Kendall Ramsey and Lily Black each had four points for the Warriors and Brooke Righter and Vanessa Diaz each added two points.

McAuley Catholic dropped to 7-13 on the season.

Ellie Creasey scored 13 points for Class 4 Aurora and Kylee Cole added 12.

 

Mercy/Warrior Classic

Tuesday’s scores

Aurora girls 59, McAuley 32

College Heights girls 46, Thomas Jefferson 14

College Heights boys 59, McAuley 48

 

BOYS HOOPS: Webb City finishes strong in win over rival Carthage

Posted on by Jason Peake

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Clinging to a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the highly-motivated Webb City boys basketball team was the squad that made more winning plays down the stretch.

Webb City rode a strong finish to a hard-fought 58-50 victory over longtime rival Carthage on Tuesday night in front of a large crowd inside the Carthage High School gymnasium.

“Our kids did a great job of executing late in the game,” Cardinals coach Jason Horn said. “We saw a lot of growth tonight from a young team. If you go back and look at last year’s game against Carthage, none of these guys were on the floor. They’re getting their first taste of the COC now. It was just a great job by our guys all the way around.”

After leading by as much as 10, the Cardinals saw their advantage trimmed down to one with just over six minutes to play. But Webb City was the team that got it done when crunch time arrived, as the Cardinals closed the game on a 13-6 burst to knock off the Tigers.

“Our guys responded late in the game,” Horn said. “They weren’t taking ‘my turn’ shots. They were valuing the ball and cutting. We did a good job of playing inside-out. I can’t say enough about how we rebounded, especially in key spots.”

The Cardinals entered this one with plenty of extra motivation, as Carthage blew out Webb City 70-48 in December at the Carthage Invitational.

“Our kids were very motivated,” Horn said. “You tip your hat to Carthage the first time we played them here. They executed at a high level and they were definitely the better team that night. Our guys just had two great days of preparation. They were very focused in practice. They knew their assignments defensively, and we put in a few new wrinkles offensively.” 

The Tigers had their chances on their home floor, but the hosts simply had too many empty possessions in the fourth quarter. Carthage did not make a field goal in the final four minutes of the contest.

“We had a lot of careless turnovers and we failed to execute late in the game,” Tigers coach Nathan Morris said. “Give Webb City credit. They got the ball where they wanted it and they executed. Unfortunately, we looked like a team that hasn’t been in the gym for three days.”

Webb City senior Alex Martin scores inside against Carthage on Tuesday night. Photo by Derek Livingston.

NAMES & NUMBERS

Webb City hiked its record to 15-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference. 

Webb City had three players score in double figures. Sophomore guard Holton Keith scored 18 points, making all seven of his field goal attempts. 

Junior guard Barron Duda added 16 points and senior forward Alex Martin had 12 points before fouling out.

Also for the Cardinals, Eli Pace had eight rebounds and five points, while Omari Jackson had five steals to go with four points.

The Cardinals made 22-of-48 field goal attempts (46 percent) but went just 4-for-14 on 3-pointers.

Carthage slipped to 11-8 and 1-2 in the COC. 

Carthage shot 35 percent for the game (14-of-40), including 5-for-21 from long distance. 

Senior guard Max Templeman scored 26 points, making 6-of-13 field goal attempts and all 13 of his free throws. The 5-9 Templeman also led the Tigers in rebounds with eight. 

Junior guard Justin Ray added 10 points for the Tigers, while senior forward Clay Kinder had six.

The Tigers turned the ball over 18 times to the Cardinals’ 11. 

 

GAME RECAP

On the last night of January, the Cardinals held an 18-12 lead at the end of the back and forth first quarter.

After hoops from Duda and Martin, Webb City took a 10-point lead early in the second quarter at 22-12.

But the Tigers responded with a 12-2 run to tie the game at 24, with Templeman scoring 10 of the 12 points during the surge.

Webb City answered with five of the final seven points of the first half for a 29-26 halftime advantage.

In the third quarter, the Cardinals led by eight after a trey from Keith and a basket inside by Duda.

However, the Tigers scored five straight to end the period, a 3-pointer from Kinder and a pair of free throws from Templeman. That made it 45-42 in favor of the Cardinals heading into the fourth quarter. 

After two hoops from Keith, the Cardinals were up 51-46 in the final frame.

Webb City’s Eli Pace looks for an opening against Carthage’s Justin Ray.

With three minutes left, Webb City’s Jackson converted a steal into a layup, giving the visitors a needed boost.

Carthage managed just four free throws in the final four minutes of the game.

The Tigers were plagued by empty possessions and several turnovers late in the game that were too much to overcome.

Keith scored two hoops in transition and made a free throw for an eight-point cushion, all but sealing the win.

“Our kids are tough and they play hard,” Morris said. “We made some plays to get back into the game, but when it truly mattered, we didn’t execute very well. Webb City made winning plays off of our turnovers.”

“Carthage has a number of kids who can make shots and that makes it difficult on you,” Horn said. “Templeman is a really good player…Ray’s a good player, Kinder’s a good player. Those guys can make shots, so we knew it wouldn’t be easy tonight.

“Omari came up huge on defense, I think he had three steals late and they were huge,” Horn added. “I have to give credit to Holton Keith. He was running the floor well and finishing plays.”

 

WHAT’S NEXT?

Both squads have conference road games on Friday, as Webb City is at Ozark and Carthage is at Republic. 

 

FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)

 

Webb City’s Omari Jackson converts a steal into a layup against Carthage on Tuesday night. Photos by Derek Livingston.

 

Webb City’s Barron Duda goes up for a shot in the lane against Carthage’s Trent Yates on Tuesday night. Webb City earned a 58-50 win over Carthage in COC action. Photos by Derek Livingston.

GIRLS HOOPS: Webb City rides fast start, strong defensive effort to win over Carthage

Posted on by Jason Peake

CARTHAGE, Mo. — A quick start and a strong defensive effort led the Webb City girls basketball team to a 59-42 victory over rival Carthage on Tuesday night in Central Ozark Conference action. 

The Cardinals built a 14-point cushion early in the game and led by 25 entering the fourth quarter on their way to a convincing win.

“I felt like we came out ready to play tonight,” Webb City coach Lance Robbins said. “Our focus early was to get the ball inside to Sami Mancini and I thought we did a good job of doing that. When she started scoring it opened up things on the perimeter and we had girls shooting the ball with confidence. I thought we did a good job defensively early in the game too.”

Webb City improved to 13-6 overall and 3-0 in the COC. 

Webb City’s Sami Mancini scores in the lane against the defense of Landry Cochran on Tuesday night at Carthage High School. Mancini scored 24 points in her team’s 59-42 win. Photo by Derek Livingston.

A 6-foot-5 sophomore post player, Mancini scored a game-high 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting and also grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Tigers had no answer for Mancini, as Carthage’s tallest player is 5-10.

“When you get the ball inside to Sami, good things are going to happen,” Coach Robbins said. 

Also for the Cardinals, junior guard Malorie Stanley scored nine points, junior point guard Mia Robbins had eight, while senior guard Kate Brownfield and sophomore guard Kirra Long contributed five points apiece.

The Cardinals made 25-of-48 field goal attempts (52 percent), including 6-of-14 from beyond the arc. Mia Robbins hit two 3-pointers, while Izzy Lopez, Long, Brownfield and Stanley made one trey apiece.

Carthage fell to 9-10 and 1-2 in conference action.

Senior guard Kianna Yates led Carthage with 17 points, four rebounds and three assists. 

Sophomore guard Maggie Boyd added seven points for the Tigers, who shot 28 percent for the game (14-of-51 FG). The Tigers went 4-for-20 on 3-pointers (20 percent).

Three players, Lexa Youngblood, Lauren Choate and Jaidyn Brunnert, chipped in four points apiece for CHS. 

The Cardinals got off to a great start, as the visitors took a 17-3 lead after nine points from Mancini, a pair of 3-pointers from Mia Robbins and a midrange jumper from Brownfield.

The Cardinals picked apart Carthage’s halfcourt defense to get high-percentage shots and were also able to get second chance points on offensive rebounds.

On the other end, the Tigers struggled with empty possessions early in the game. 

Carthage’s Boyd knocked a trey, but Webb City’s Stanley scored five straight points off the bench, a hoop inside and a wing 3-pointer.

Those points gave Webb City a comfortable 22-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Webb City’s Kate Brownfield drives to the hoop against Carthage’s Lexa Youngblood on Tuesday night. Photo by Derek Livingston.

The Cardinals held a 29-11 advantage in the second period when the Tigers put together a 7-0 surge, with Boyd, Youngblood and Yates contributing points.

But Webb City responded by finishing the first half on a 9-1 burst.

During the late spurt, Mancini converted a pair of hoops in the paint, Long added a hoop in the lane before Brownfield buried a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, giving the visitors a 38-19 halftime advantage.

The Cardinals limited the Tigers to five made field goals in the opening half as opposed to their 16.

“Our girls have taken pride in their defense all season long,” Coach Robbins said. “We defended a little bit differently tonight. We usually play a lot of man-to-man and tonight we played a 2-3 zone. We felt like we needed to extend our defense and get out on their 3-point shooters. And I thought our girls did a good job of doing that.” 

The hosts just couldn’t get shots to fall in the opening half, going 5-for-17 on field goal attempts.

Webb City doubled up Carthage 12-6 in the third quarter to take a commanding 50-25 cushion into the final frame.

“We talked at halftime about the fact that Carthage’s girls have a lot of pride and they’re going to come out and give us their best effort in the second half,” Coach Robbins said of his halftime message. “I thought we did a good job of not letting them go on a huge run in the second half.”

Webb City’s lead was never in jeopardy in the fourth quarter. The Tigers outscored the Cardinals 17-9 in the last eight minutes to account for the final score.  

 

WHAT’S NEXT?

Both teams continue COC play on Thursday, as Carthage is at Republic and Webb City travels to Ozark.

 

FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)

 

Webb City junior guard Malorie Stanley scores from in close against Carthage on Tuesday night. Webb City beat Carthage 59-42. All photos by Derek Livingston.

 

Webb City point guard Mia Robbins handles the ball under pressure from Carthage’s Kianna Yates.

 

Webb City’s Izzy Lopez plays defense against Carthage’s Lauren Choate on Tuesday night. All photos by Derek Livingston.

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