GRANBY, Mo. — Joplin found itself in an early hole and was unable to climb out of it before East Newton pulled away to a 66-50 win on Thursday.
The Patriots (18-1) and Eagles (10-7) traded early scores before the Patriots closed the opening quarter with a run to build a nine-point lead. East Newton led by as many as 13 in the second period before Joplin cut it to seven by the intermission. The Eagles trimmed the margin to five late in the third quarter before East Newton scored 10 unanswered for a 15-point cushion in the fourth on the way to the win.
“East Newton is a really good team,” Joplin coach Jeff Hafer said. “There is a reason they are 18-1 now. … We struggled with a lot of what we’ve struggled with throughout the year—points in the paint and guarding the ball. … For us, it’s about toughness. We have a group that is battling themselves a little bit. … As we mature and accept some of those things, they are going to see a lot of success.”
East Newton’s Kyson Lahman set the tone in the paint for the Patriots’ 17-8 opening quarter, scoring five of the first seven points for his team while finishing the first eight minutes with 10 total.
“I told our kids before the game that he may not be the most-athletic player, but he is probably one of the most-skilled and savvy big guys we’ve played, if not the most, all year. … What he does probably better than anything, if you don’t front him, he buries your right at the basket and does a great job using his body.”
Holding a 21-15 advantage three-plus minutes into the second, the Patriots used a 7-0 run fueled by a pair of baskets by Gabe Bergen and a bucket from Lucas Kimbrough to push the margin to 28-15.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well early,” Hafer said. “We also, again, just missed a lot at the basket. When you miss layups, those are essentially turnovers. … That hurt. … We had opportunities early and didn’t capitalize. It was a dogfight from there.”
Joplin finished out the first half with the final six points, with Always Wright coming up with two scores sandwiched around a Dante Washington offensive rebound and put-back score to cut the deficit to 28-21.
East Newton pushed the lead back to 10, 37-27, at the 4:07 mark when Tanner Youngblood converted inside while drawing contact for a three-point play and held the pace for another 90 seconds.
Joplin used a score on the drive from All Wright and a deep 3-pointer from Always Wright to bring East Newton’s lead down to five, 41-36, with less than two minutes to play.
“You have to get stops and you have to get to the rim,” Hafer said of his team’s ability to cut the lead to two possessions in the third. “We attacked a lot better during that stretch, getting to the rim or the free-throw line. That is big for us—being able to guard the paint on one end and get to the paint on the other end.”
Connor Killion knocked down a running shot at the buzzer to end the third and the Patriots scored the first eight points of the fourth, led by a 3-pointer and a three-point play from Kimbrough, to push the lead up to 15 midway through the fourth, 51-36. East Newton never relinquished the momentum for the final horn.
SCORING LEADERS
Kimbrough finished with a game-high 21 points to lead East Newton in scoring. Lahman finished the game with 18 points, with Bergen scoring 11.
Always Wright led Joplin with 16 points, while Washington finished with 12. All Wright had eight.
UP NEXT
Joplin hosts Carthage on Tuesday.
East Newton is at Cassville on Tuesday.
