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BOYS HOOPS ROUNDUP: Webb City, Neosho suffer losses in regular-season finales

By:
SoMo Sports staff reports

HILLCREST BOYS 63, WEBB CITY 43

WEBB CITY, Mo. — It wasn’t the way the Webb City Cardinals wanted to end the regular season.

Hillcrest took an early lead and never relinquished it en route to a 63-43 win over Webb City on Thursday night inside the Cardinal Dome.

“We didn’t do a very good job of rebounding the basketball tonight,” Webb City coach Jason Horn said. “And we had too many empty possessions. We didn’t convert point-blank shots and we didn’t finish shots off from the perimeter. You can’t have that many empty possessions against a good team. They were able to stretch the lead on us.”

Webb City ends the regular season with a record of 16-10.

The Cardinals made just 8-of-26 field goal attempts (32 percent), including 3-of-18 from beyond the arc.

Sophomore guard Holton Keith scored 14 points to lead the Cardinals, while classmate Eli Pace added 10. Junior guard Omari Jackson contributed eight points off the bench.

Hillcrest (16-11) shot 47 percent from the floor (22-of-47). The Hornets also went 17-for-24 at the foul line. 

Braxton Baker recorded 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Hornets, while Anarre Clark added 21 points and Cole Griesemer contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Hillcrest out-rebounded Webb City 37-21.

Utilizing an early 11-2 run, Hillcrest led 20-9 at the end of the first quarter. 

Webb City outscored the visitors 10-9 in the second period, but the hosts trailed 29-19 at intermission.

The Hornets led 47-30 at the end of the third quarter and never surrendered their advantage in the final frame.

Second-seeded Webb City will meet seventh-seeded Carl Junction at 7 p.m. on March 1 in the quarterfinals of the Class 5 District 7 tournament at Belton High School.

“I think we have a chance to win the district, but we obviously have to get through that first game with Carl Junction,” Horn said. “Carl Junction played us really tough the other night and we know there are some really good teams in our district. It’s going to come down to which team gets hot at the right time. If we can get hot, stay confident and make plays, and maybe get a little luck on our side, we can come out of there with a district championship.” 

 

NIXA BOYS 71, NEOSHO 35

NIXA, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats dropped the regular-season finale to the undefeated Nixa Eagles. 

Neosho ends the regular season with a record of 19-7. The Wildcats went 6-3 in the always-tough Central Ozark Conference. 

With Thursday’s win, Nixa remained undefeated and locked up an outright Central Ozark Conference championship. Ranked second in Class 6, Nixa improved to 26-0 and the Eagles went undefeated in the COC at 9-0.

The Eagles led 24-10 at the end of the first quarter and 30-21 at halftime. Nixa pulled away with a big third quarter, as the hosts took a 60-31 lead into the fourth quarter.

Sixth-seeded Neosho meets third-seeded Republic at 8:30 on March 1 in a quarterfinal contest of the Class 6 District 5 tournament at Ozark.

Also of note, Nixa’s girls defeated Neosho 70-40 on Thursday night. No other information was available.

Seventh-seeded Neosho (10-16) meets second-seeded Nixa (20-6) at 7 on March 2 in the opening-round of the Class 6 District 5 tournament at Nixa. 

 

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