Ozark caught fire from 3-point range in the first quarter to build an early cushion the Tigers would expand upon in the second half on the way to spoiling Joplin’s Senior Night with a 64-37 win over the Eagles on Monday night in Central Ozark Conference and district action.
“I felt like we did a lot of really good things,” first-year Joplin coach Brad Cox said about his team’s final home game of the season. “We got better throughout the game just like we have gotten better at things throughout the season. That just kind of speaks to the testimony of our girls. At this point of the season with the record that we have, it could be really easy to just go through the motions and not try to get better. But, they have bought into the culture and are still trying to improve. We can’t give up now or we are not going to get to where we are going.”
SENIOR NIGHT
Joplin honored four student-athletes with Senior Night ceremonies on Monday—Brynn Driver, Izzy Yust, Serafina Auberry and Jill McDaniel.
“If you watch the way that they carried themselves—Izzy, Serafina, Jill and Brynn—we couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls to really try to lay this foundation,” Coach Cox said of his seniors. “That’s not easy to do, and they’ve done it selflessly and with a really positive attitude. I can’t thank them enough. For my first year, I was blessed with a truly great group of seniors.”
SPECIAL MOMENT
Earlier in the year, Driver suffered an in-game knee injury that wound up costing her the rest of her senior season on the court.
On Monday, she was able to suit up and get into the scorebook one last time after Ozark and Joplin agreed to allow Driver to score the Eagles’ first basket of the night, with Driver grabbing her own miss for a putback score from the low block.
“That was a great moment to get Brynn one last bucket here in this beautiful gym,” Coach Cox said. “And with Izzy passing her the ball, that has been a connection that’s been going on for a long time. It is truly a blessing to get to watch them do that again and for Brynn to have that moment.”
GAME ACTION
After Driver’s ceremonial first basket for the Eagles (4-21, 0-9 COC) to tie the game at 2-2, Ozark got hot from the perimeter in the first quarter to build a double-digit lead they would carry into the intermission.
The Tigers (13-12, 6-3 COC) knocked down four 3-pointers in the period to fuel a 21-10 advantage to start the second quarter. Jordyn Foley had two 3-pointers and finished the first period with 10 points. Kadance Kirkland and Macey Sult each added perimeter field goals in the opening quarter.
Ozark pushed the lead to 15 points as halftime approached before Joplin got a mid-range jumper from Alissa Owens and a 3-pointer from Ashley Phillips to trim the lead to 34-21. An inside basket by Aiyana Kroll cut the deficit to 11.
Ozark pulled out in front for good in the third quarter. The Tigers started the second half on a 12-2 run to push the lead to more than 20 for the first time, 46-25, on a pair of free throws from Alexis Solomon.
Ozark carried a 19-point lead into the final eight minutes of action and never wavered down the stretch.
SCORING LEADERS
Auberry and Phillips led the Eagles with eight points each in the loss, while Owens added five and Yust four.
Solomon led Ozark in scoring with 18 points, while Foley finished right behind with 16 in the win. Kirkland added eight.
UP NEXT
Joplin wraps the regular season portion of the schedule with a road matchup against McDonald County on Tuesday.
The Eagles are the eighth seed in the Class 6 District 5 tournament and have a 4 p.m. matchup with top-seeded Republic on March 2 at Nixa High School.
