WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Webb City Cardinals bounced back nicely from Tuesday’s disappointing setback to Neosho by beating Branson 76-42 on Friday night in Central Ozark Conference action inside the Cardinal Dome.
“The response to Tuesday’s loss was great,” Cardinals coach Jason Horn said. “It started in practice. We broke the film down and we had two hard days of practice. The emphasis was that every game is important and not to take the game for granted. We stressed that every possession is important and playing with maximum effort. Tonight, I thought we did a great job of that.”
Webb City led from start to finish against the Pirates.
“We got the pace where we wanted it,” Horn said. “We were able to push the pace and get things in transition. The main thing is our kids were sharp in their focus and the preparation was really good. They did a good job of sticking to the scouting report. It was a 180 from where we were at on Tuesday, so I was really pleased with that. I saw a lot of growth. Defensively, they were recognizing what the other team was doing on their own. Offensively, they were hustling into their sets, cutting hard and setting good screens…the little things that make you good down the road.”
The Cardinals took an early 11-2 lead after eight points from junior guard Barron Duda on two treys and a strong baseline drive and a 3-pointer from senior forward Alex Martin.
Webb City’s lead was 17-7 at the end of the first quarter. Duda scored 14 points in the opening frame.
The Cardinals went up by 17 at 31-14 with just over three minutes to play in the first half after hoops in the lane from Eli Pace, Holton Keith and Duda.
By the break, Webb City was up 43-20.
The Cardinals held a comfortable 55-32 advantage heading into the fourth quarter, and their lead was never in jeopardy in the final frame.
The hosts took their biggest lead of 29 points with 4:53 remaining in the contest.
Webb City improved to 11-3 and 1-1 in the COC.
Duda scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Martin finished with 17 points and 12 boards.
Joe Adams also reached double figures with 10 points, while Keith scored nine and Pace had eight. Keith had five assists, while Adams had eight rebounds.
Webb City made 27-of-70 field goal attempts (39 percent) and went 5-for-29 on 3-pointers.
The Cardinals out-rebounded the Pirates 40-27.
Branson fell to 5-9 and 0-2 in conference action.
Justin Gill scored 11 points and had eight rebounds for Branson, while Peyton Bough added nine points.
The Pirates made 19-of-62 field goal attempts (31 percent), including just 2-for-22 from beyond the arc.
Branson had 15 turnovers to Webb City’s eight.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Webb City will compete at next week’s Frontenac Tournament. The Cardinals are the defending champs.
“It’s always a good tournament, and we’d love to repeat,” Horn said.
FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)
