College Heights pulled out to a double-digit lead in the second quarter to set the pace in a 60-47 Ozark 7 win over rival McAuley on Friday at Ozark Christian College.
“You want to be playing your best this time of year and peaking, not in December,” College Heights coach Eric Johnson said. “We feel like we are. We still have a lot of room for improvement, sharpening things up on offense. I think our defense has done a good job for us here in the last few games. If you play good defense and get your offense to be consistent, you can have some success.”
“It’s tough coming off of six days with nothing, especially after the tough loss to (Thomas Jefferson) last Saturday in our tournament,” McAuley coach Tony Witt said. “You could see it start to go downhill fast. But it was really big for us to show that fight in the second half and dig ourselves out of that hole.”
The Cougars (13-8, 3-1 Ozark 7) jumped out to a 17-12 lead after the first quarter and started the second with an 13-2 run to build a 30-14 advantage with less than four minutes to play in the first half.
“Shots were falling,” Johnson said of his team’s play in the first half. “And not just Miller (Long). Curtis (Davenport) had some right there, too. And we got a couple from (Ethan) Meeks, too. When shots start falling and we are playing pretty good defense, we are a pretty good ballclub.”
Miller Long, who scored 19 points in the first half, knocked down a 3-pointer in the run, while Hagen Beck, Ethan Adel, Curtis Davenport and Ethan Meeks all contributed baskets.
“He forced some shots tonight, but did a good job with the open shots he got off our offense,” Johnson said. “He’s pretty good at taking the ball to the basket and finishing. … He’s a good player and is difficult to defend.”
The Warriors (7-13, 1-3) cut the lead to 11 with less than a minute to play after a 3-pointer from Rocco Bazzano-Joseph and a layup off the break from Daniel Wagner before Long finished the second period with an old-fashioned three-point play to send CHC into the intermission with a 35-21 advantage.
“It was all them,” Witt said of CHC’s ability to stretch the lead in the second quarter. “I applauded our guys for not giving up any offensive rebounds, but that’s because there weren’t any. That is tough to guard when a team is shooting like they were. … We got down a little bit because of that. Even though we got hands up on a shooter, it’s still going in. That can be demoralizing for a defense.”
McAuley spent the second half continually trying to trim the lead to single digits, but each time the Warriors looked to be building momentum, College Heights had a response.
Wagner had consecutive scores near the three-minute mark of the third to make the score 40-29 before Long answered with a 3-ball.
Moments later with time dwindling, Thomas Black and Wagner finished off back-to-back scores to trim the lead to 10, 43-33, with less than 90 seconds on the clock.
“It was really big for us,” Witt said about his team’s play late in the loss. “I felt like we did not have that energy in the first half.”
Again, Long answered with a bucket to close the quarter with CHC holding a 12-point advantage.
College Heights pushed the lead to 54-38 with 3:30 expired in the fourth after a mid-range bucket from Caleb Quade and a floater from Long.
Bazzano-Joseph and Joe Staton splashed home 3-pointers to once again get the Warriors within a basket from single digits, 54-44, with less than four minutes to play, but that would be as close as McAuley would get to the lead before the sound of the final horn.
SCORING LEADERS
Long led College Heights with a game-high 32 points, including five 3-pointers. Davenport added 14, while Meeks finished with six.
Wagner led McAuley with 12 points, while Black finished with 10. Matthew Dohmen scored nine.
UP NEXT
College Heights hosts Thomas Jefferson on Saturday.
McAuley hosts Golden City on Saturday.
