WEBB CITY, Mo. — A late rally fell short for the Webb City Cardinals, as the Ozark Tigers left town with a 80-75 Central Ozark Conference victory on Friday night.
The game was deadlocked at the end of the third quarter before the Tigers scored eight unanswered points to start the final frame.
Down 10 with 53 seconds to play, the Cardinals rallied to get within three in the final seconds before the visitors made two late free throws to seal the win inside the Cardinal Dome.
“It all started at the end of the third quarter,” Cardinals coach Jason Horn said. “We wanted to hold the ball for one shot at the end of the third. We tried to force a pass and we were unable to capitalize. I think that put us into a spiral at that point. And you’re not going to win a lot of games when you give up 80 points.”
Horn noted his squad needs to continue to improve.
“I think we were undisciplined with the ball and being undisciplined on defense cost us a lot tonight,” he said. “Ozark’s got a good club. They’re one of those teams that will prepare us for districts.”
Ranked eighth in Class 5 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association, Webb City fell to 9-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Junior forward Trey Roets led the Cardinals with 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting before fouling out with just under four minutes to play.
“He’s a tough matchup for anybody we play,” Horn said of the 6-foot-4 Roets. “He puts a lot of work in. We think we have a chance to beat anybody when he’s on the floor. We have to keep him on the floor.”
Two others reached double figures for Webb City, as junior guard Dante Washington scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and Max Higginbotham added 12 points by making 5-of-9 field goal attempts, including two treys.
Senior guard Cohl Vaden contributed nine points, eight assists and five rebounds, while Kaden Turner had nine points.
Webb City made 30-of-53 field goal attempts (57 percent).
Ozark, receiving votes in the MBCA’s Class 6 poll, hiked its record to 11-5 and 2-0 in the COC.
The Tigers shot 54 percent from the floor (28-of-52) and also went 17-for-21 at the foul line.
Four players scored in double figures for Ozark, as Tyler Harmon had 23 points, Jace Whatley and Ethan Whatley added 16 points apiece and Greydon Miller had 11.
A fast-paced first quarter ended with Ozark up 20-19.
A pair of hoops from Washington, a free throw from Dupree Jackson and treys from Higginbotham and Vaden gave the Cardinals a 37-34 advantage.
But the Tigers closed the first half on an 8-0 run to take a 42-37 halftime lead.
The Cardinals outscored the Tigers 22-17 in the third period, and the game was deadlocked at 59 entering the fourth quarter.
That’s when Ozark scored the first eight points of the final frame to pull away for good. On the other end, the Cardinals went three minutes without a point.
The hosts put together a furious late-game rally, but hoops from Washington, Turner and Vaden were not enough.
Up three with five seconds left, Ozark inbounded the ball and drew a foul. Harmon sank both at the charity stripe for the final margin.
“These guys won’t quit,” Horn said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Webb City team in any sport quit. They’ll play hard until the buzzer goes off. But we’ve got to be better defensively. We can’t pick up cheap fouls. We’ve got to limit turnovers. If we limit our turnovers in the first half, this could have been a different outcome. I thought we had a great crowd and it was a great atmosphere.”
Webb City will take on Norwood at 2 on Saturday at Baptist Bible College in Springfield. The Pirates are ranked second in Class 2 by the MBCA.
The Cardinals added the contest to the schedule after losing the opening round game of the Kaminsky Classic.
