Willard turned a one-possession game into a nine-point lead to close the first half and held the pace in the final two quarters to earn a 52-44 Central Ozark Conference win over Joplin on Friday.
“I think in 12 days we’ve played a game and practiced one time,” Joplin coach Jeff Hafer said. “It was very evident that you can get out of shape quickly. We played last Friday and I loved the way our kids competed, but missing another entire week of practice was difficult for us.
“We struggled offensively and we made things really hard on ourselves on the defensive end because we generally have to guard three times on every possession because of offensive rebounds. It’s really hard, especially like a team that is going to make you guard, like Willard. … That is something that has been an Achillie’s heel for us. When we do those things well, we are in basketball games.”
Joplin (11-10, 2-4 COC), which led 10-9 after the first quarter, trailed 19-17 with less than four minutes to play in the first half when Willard (9-15, 3-5 COC) closed the second period on a 9-2 run to build a 28-19 lead by halftime, the largest advantage by either team to that point in the game.
Haden Brown accounted for two of the Tigers’ baskets, while Ryan Robinson also added a score. Hayden Roberts closed out the first half with a 3-pointer at the horn.
“We didn’t defend very well, No. 1,” Hafer said of Willard’s close to the first half. “And No. 2, some of those were second-chance opportunities. … It’s all on the defensive end for us. If we are going to be in games and compete, it’s because we are able to guard and rebound the ball. We didn’t do either of those things tonight.”
The Tigers got a pair of scores off the drive from Brett Hall and a baseline score from Brown to open the second half, extending the lead to 15 points, 34-19.
All Wright converted from the perimeter before LT Atherton followed with a basket in the paint to trim the margin to 10 with 2:35 on the clock. After Hall sank a trey, the Eagles answered with six straight to get within seven of the lead, which remained the margin by the end of the quarter.
“A little bit of it was that we got stops, rebounded and got out and ran,” Hafer said. “They had 17 fouls going into the fourth quarter and we stopped attacking in the fourth quarter. I think we were doing that much better when we got back into it (in the third quarter).”
The Tigers started the fourth quarter with a three-point play from Brown and an offensive rebound for a putback score by Gavin Davis to help hike the lead to 46-33 with three minutes expired.
The Eagles were unable to come up with a surge of their own to make a run at the lead, trimming the margin to single digits in the closing moments.
SCORING LEADERS
All Wright had 13 to lead Joplin, while Always Wright finished with 11. Atherton closed with six.
Brown scored a game-high 24 points for Willard. Hall added nine and Davis finished with eight.
DISTRICT UPDATE
Joplin is the third seed in the Class 6, District 12 tournament. The Eagles will travel to second-seeded Republic for a 7 p.m. tip on March 2.
UP NEXT
Joplin hosts Carl Junction at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
