WEBB CITY, Mo. — After three weeks of road games, the Webb City Cardinals were thrilled to once again play at home again.
Looking inspired from the start, Webb City stormed out of the gates and put up 15 unanswered points early in the game on the way to a commanding 74-41 victory over Willard on Tuesday night in Central Ozark Conference boys basketball action inside the Cardinal Dome.
Webb City improved to 14-5 overall and 2-1 in the COC with the lopsided win. It was Webb City’s first home date since a January 12 win over Joplin.
“We were glad to be back playing at home,” Cardinals coach Jason Horn said. “I thought our pace of play was really good. We limited our turnovers. There have been times this year we would get going too fast and be in too much of a rush and have careless turnovers. We didn’t do that tonight. Defensively, we picked our intensity up. We weren’t happy with our effort on Saturday, so we got back to doing the things that have made us successful to this point. We also limited our fouls and that was key.”
Five players scored in double figures for Webb City’s balanced attack.
“When we share the ball it makes us hard to guard,” Horn said. “We have guys who can score the ball. They went to a box-and-one on Cohl (Vaden), but he’s an unselfish offensive player. He picked his spots and he let his teammates do their thing.”
Trenton Hayes led the Cardinals with 14 points, while Luke Brumit scored 12. Nickhai Howard had 11 points, while Vaden and Alex Martin contributed 10 points apiece.
The Cardinals shot 53 percent, hitting 31-of-59 field goal attempts.
Horn noted it was nice to have Kaden Turner back in the lineup after the junior missed a few games due to illness.
“He played well tonight in his first game back and he’s going to be instrumental for us,” Horn said.
Hayden Roberts scored 16 points and hit four 3-pointers to lead Willard (6-13, 0-3 COC). The Tigers shot 29 percent for the game (17-of-58).
Webb City pulled away for good with an early 18-2 surge that was finished off by treys from Hayes and Martin.
The Cardinals scored 15 unanswered points during the early burst and led 22-6 by the end of the first quarter.
The second period was nearly even, but Hayes and Martin both hit 3-pointers late in the quarter, and the Cardinals were up 37-20 at intermission.
An 11-0 run in the third quarter extended Webb City’s advantage to 48-22. The Cardinals led 56-32 entering the fourth quarter.
A 12-4 run made it 68-36 and the outcome was never in doubt the rest of the way.
Webb City hosts Branson on Friday night.
