SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — In a clash between state-ranked squads, Webb City’s boys basketball team suffered a 51-46 non-conference loss to Springfield Catholic on Friday night at Catholic High School.
Catholic is ranked sixth in Class 5 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, while Webb City is ranked ninth.
After overcoming a double-digit deficit, the Fighting Irish improved to 16-5. Webb City fell to 13-5.
The first half saw both teams trade significant runs. Webb City used a 12-0 run to pull away, only to see Catholic finish the second quarter on a 14-4 spurt.
The Irish outscored the Cardinals 27-19 in the second half.
Webb City led for most of the first half.
The Cardinals scored the final six points of the first quarter on hoops from Cohl Vaden, Kaden Turner and Dante Washington to take an 11-7 lead.
The visitors then recorded the first six points of the second quarter, as buckets from Turner, Trey Roets and Washington made it 17-7.
After the Irish stopped the surge, Vaden hit a pair of 3-pointers for a 23-10 advantage.
But Catholic closed the first half on a 14-4 run to trim Webb City’s halftime lead to three at 27-24.
Catholic started the second half on a 9-1 run to pull ahead for good.
The Cardinals battled foul trouble in the third period, as both Turner and Roets picked up their third fouls.
The Irish took a 39-35 lead into the fourth period.
The Cardinals cut their deficit to two with 2:50 left after a hoop in the lane by Turner, but the Irish would not relinquish their lead down the stretch.
Down three on several occasions late in the game, the Cardinals had a number of empty possessions.
Turner scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Cardinals, while Washington had 12 points and Vaden added 11 points and three assists. Roets scored eight points and pulled down five boards.
Zach Howell scored 14 points to lead Catholic, while Liam O’Reilly had 11 and Ty Lyon contributed 10. The Irish out-rebounded the Cardinals 32-17.
Webb City travels to Willard on Tuesday for a COC contest.
FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)
