WEBB CITY, Mo. — With the game tied at 54s and 6.5 seconds left in regulation, Webb City senior F Alex Martin caught the inbounds pass on the right wing, squared to the basket in a triple-threat stance before driving deep into the paint and putting the ball up and in with 1.1 ticks left to ultimately send the Cardinals to a 56-54 win over Rogers-Heritage (Arkansas) on Tuesday inside the Cardinal Dome.
“He was big all night,” Webb City coach Jason Horn said of Martin’s go-ahead bucket. “The last play, it was a situation where he was going to have to make a read. … They gave him a little room and he got downhill. Coming out of the last timeout, we talked to him about not playing for the three-point play and just making sure to finish the basket. He went really strong to the rim and made a big man’s play.”
The win snaps a two-game skid to close out the Carthage Invitational for Webb City, with the Cardinals improving to 3-2 after victory over the War Eagles (2-8).
“I don’t know what is going to happen the rest of the season, but I know that locker room was ecstatic when I went in there,” Horn said about the importance of this win. “It was a big weight lifted off their shoulders. You could feel their confidence starting to come back. It is something that we may look back on in a few weeks and say that was a turning point for us. I think we grew up a lot tonight.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Webb City shot 42 percent from the field and 33 percent from the perimeter in the win.
Martin paced the Cardinals with 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting and to go along with nine rebounds and two assists.
“He carried us for a stretch,” Horn said of Martin’s performance. “From the second quarter, really through that fourth, he was someone we knew who was going to consistently put the ball in the basket. If we got the ball in his hands, we knew good things were going to happen. … He put us on his back when we needed it.”
Senior G Joe Adams made three 3-pointers on the way to 13 points, while junior G Barron Duda finished with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and seven rebounds. Sophomore G Holton Keith had nine points and three assists.
DOWN THE STRETCH
Webb City entered the fourth quarter trailing 40-36 and got the first basket to trim the lead to one possession. The Cardinals and War Eagles traded scores over the next several possessions before Webb City took its first lead, 48-47, since midway through the second quarter on a score in the paint from Martin before Keith grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback and a foul, knocking down the ensuing and-1 free throw, to give Webb City a 51-47 lead with 2:20 to play.
Heritage junior F Ben Manuel—who finished with a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double—made a 3-pointer to cut the Webb City lead to one before an inside score from senior Carter Hensley gave the War Eagles a 52-51 lead with 1:17 left.
A 3-ball by Duda with 55 seconds left gave the Cardinals a 54-52 lead before a quick score inside by Manuel had the game knotted up at 54 with less than 45 seconds to play.
A Webb City turnover looked to lead to a game-deciding layup on the break the other way, but the transition basket was missed with the Cardinals grabbing the rebound and calling timeout with 6.5 seconds left to set up Martin’s game-winning basket.
HOW THEY GOT THERE
Early turnovers were the catalyst in Webb City falling behind early. The Cardinals had seven giveaways in the first quarter, which allowed the War Eagles to jump out to a 13-3 lead through the first six-plus minutes of action.
“They were just playing nervous, tentative and a little bit scared,” Horn said of his team’s play through the first quarter. “And those things are uncharacteristic of us. We talked earlier and I think our confidence was a little shook from Friday night and Saturday. We needed to see the ball go in the basket to know that we are still good and can make plays. As the game wore on, they relaxed, their confidence rose and we were able to make winning plays.”
Webb City’s Adams knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers later in the quarter to help cut the Heritage lead to seven to start the second period.
The Cardinals opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run highlighted by a pair of paint scores from Martin and a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the corner by Duda to tie the game at 16-16 with 6:10 to play in the first.
Webb City took its first lead moments late on a 3-pointer from Adams, but both teams traded buckets and the lead until Heritage closed the first half on an 8-1 run, led by two 3-pointers from senior G James Isbell, who finished with 14 points and four assists, and junior G Eli Howard, with Isbell anding a score on the drive as well, to take a 33-24 lead into the intermission.
The Cardinals started the second half with the first six points off a bucket from Duda and four team charities to trim the deficit to 33-30 before Heritage went back up six on a three-point play from Manuel.
The lead remained between one and two possessions until the War Eagles took a 40-36 advantage into the last eight minutes.
UP NEXT
Webb City hosts Springfield Catholic on Thursday.
FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)
