Joplin built a nine-point cushion by the end of the first quarter and never relinquished the lead on the way to the Eagles’ first win over the season, 81-73, over Pittsburg on Friday inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.
The Eagles were able to stretch the lead to 10 points twice in the first half and ballooned it to 17 points early in the second half only for Pittsburg to cut it down to one possession inside the final two minutes of regulation. Joplin didn’t waver, holding off the Dragons down the stretch to punch the ticket on its first victory.
“I think we got up 17 and then kind of relaxed,” Joplin coach Bronson Schaake said. “We had unforced turnover and (Pittsburg) did a good job of making shots and getting to the three-throw line. We are still going through growing pains with a young group, especially on how to close out games. It was a good bounce-back win for us. All (Wright) is really, really good but I thought our bigs, Whit Hafer and Terrance Gibson, really brought it on both ends.”
Joplin guard All Wright led all scorers with a game-high 39 points, including 25 in the second half and 11 in the fourth quarter. Forward Whit Hafer finished with nine points, while G Quin Renfro closed with eight.
Mason English led Pittsburg with 34 points, including 16 free throws. Jackson Turnbull finished with 14 points.
Joplin built a nine-point lead by the end of the first quarter thanks in large part to the scoring of All Wright, who finished with 12 of the Eagles’ 22 points in the period. Wright had three scores on the drive, a mid-range jumper, a free throw and a pull-up 3-pointer at the buzzer with a man draped all over him.
“I thought he was doing a better job tonight of getting his bigs more involved,” Schaake said of Wright’s performance. “Which we need to because we have some bigs that can do some things. All makes us go, and as the season goes on he is learning how to play point guard. That’s a whole new ballgame for him. But he is going to get better at that.”
Terrance Gibson added four points, Collis Jones added a bucket and Whit Hafer knocked down a 3-pointer to help fill out the quarter.
Pittsburg used a 9-0 run midway through the second period to trim the lead down to one, 24-23. Mason English fueled the run with seven points, including an old-fashioned three-point play before Joey Cronister scored on an inbounds play before Joplin’s Fred Taylor buried back to back 3-balls to push the Eagles’ lead back out, 30-23.
“He came in the game for All, who picked up his third foul, and I think we pushed the lead to 10 with him in there,” Schaake said. “Fred has a lot of potential. He is a smooth player and is trying to get acclimated to the varsity speed. Those were big to send us into halftime with the lead.”
Quin Renfro added a putback score, with Trenton Gage getting in the scoring column before the half to give JHS a 34-27 lead at the break.
Pittsburg cut the lead to one possession out of the break with buckets from Jovani Salas and a from Jackson Turnbull before Joplin answered with an 18-4 run to build a 52-35 advantage.
After two charities from Wright, Hafer slammed home a dunk to get the lead to seven. Wright added a score off the drive before knocking down a pullup 3-pointer from the wing off a ball screen. Wright added another triple on the next possession to extend Joplin’s lead to 46-33.
After a pair of free throws from English, Hafer added a jumper from the top of the key before scoring in the paint, with Wright ending the surge with a driving score.
“It makes them honor that he’s out there,” Schaake said about Hafer showing his shooting range in the win. “They have to stretch out and guard him, and Whit’s shot looks good. He has worked on it and it just stretches his game out.”
Pittsburg added a 3-pointer by English before the break to cut the Dragons’ deficit to 56-45 with one quarter to play.
Joplin and Pittsburg traded baskets until the Dragons cut the lead to 69-63 with 2:30 to play on a 3-pointer from Jayden Brown. Turnbull added a bucket inside on the next trip down the floor to trim the lead to four.
Wright made one of two from the stripe before Collis Jones scored on the break with 90 seconds left for a 72-65 advantage.
Turnbull cut the lead to three with just over a minute to play on an inside score, but Joplin added a free throw from Wright and a second-chance bucket from Renfro to again push the lead back to three possessions, 76-69, with 43.9 seconds left in regulation to put the game out of reach.
UP NEXT
Joplin will defend its title in the 76th annual Carthage Invitational from Dec. 8-10.
