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GIRLS HOOPS: Joplin pulls away down the stretch for win over Neosho on Senior Night

By:
Lucas Davis

Joplin girls basketball sent its senior girls off on a high note, pulling away from Neosho in the fourth quarter on the way to a 40-26 win over the Wildcats on Monday inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.

Joplin senior Brooke Nice knocks down a shot from the perimeter in the Eagles’ win over Neosho on Monday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

The Eagles (11-14, 2-7 COC) trailed early before rallying to take a lead by halftime. Joplin gained separation in the third quarter and pulled away from the Wildcats (8-17, 0-8 COC) for a Central Ozark Conference win on Senior Night.

“The most important thing tonight was getting the win,” Joplin coach Luke Floyd said. “It was kind of a slow start but that is to be expected on Senior Night. There was a little bit of a lull, but I thought the girls did a great job in the second quarter of coming back and getting the lead. We calmed down the nerves and started taking care of the ball to pull away in the second half. Defensively, I thought we played great all night.”

SENIOR NIGHT

The Eagles honored three student-athletes with Senior Night ceremonies—Ella Hafer, Emma Floyd and Brooke Nice.

“I thought Emma said it really well in her Senior Night introduction,” said Coach Floyd, who is in his second season at the helm of Joplin. “These girls have been extremely welcoming to our family. When you are a junior or senior and a new coach comes in, it’s easy to ignore them and do things the way that they’ve been doing them. But, they have bought in from Day 1, work hard every day and set a great example for our kids. As we continue to build our program, these three seniors are who our team can look up to and model themselves after in the years to come.”

GAME ACTION

Neosho opened the game with the momentum, jumping out to an 11-2 run over the first six minutes of action. Karlee Ellick started the run and closed the run with a pair of inside scores, while Beclynn Garrett added a 3-pointer and a mid-range jumper and Raine Harris scored in the paint to fill out the early surge.

Joplin responded by closing out the quarter outscoring Neosho 7-2, with Riley Kelly scoring inside and Nice knocking down a corner 3-pointer, to trim the deficit to 13-9 heading into the second period.

The Eagles took the lead for the first time 15-13 when Nice and Brynn Driver knocked down consecutive 3-balls with 4:20 left to play in the second quarter. Joplin carried that two-point cushion into the intermission, 23-21.

Joplin got hot late in the third period, closing on an 8-2 run to push the margin to 31-24 to start the fourth quarter. Nice closed the third with a 3-ball off an inbounds pass with 30 seconds left before sinking another perimeter shot with five seconds left on the clock.

“Once we started going inside out to Brooke and she was able to knock down some shots, it really opened up the rest of the offense,” Coach Floyd said. “She is such a good ball player and she really opens things up for us like that.”

The Eagles continued to separate from the Wildcats in the fourth quarter by forcing Neosho into a rash of turnovers with a full-court press out of the break that turned into a 9-0 run for Joplin at the other end, pushing the lead to 40-24 with three minutes to play.

“It was nice to be on the other side of the turnover barrage for once,” Coach Floyd said. “It created momentum for us. We should get confidence from our defense. Once we started turning them over in the press, that is when our offense got a lot better.”

Hafer and Nice had transition layups, while Driver knocked down a 3-pointer off an inbounds pass and Emma Floyd pulled down an offensive rebound for a putback score.

Joplin senior Emma Floyd contests a short in the Eagles’ win over Neosho on Monday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

SCORING LEADERS 

Nice led Joplin with 14 points, while Driver finished in double figures with 10 points. Hafer closed with nine and Emma Floyd finished with four points.

Ellick scored 12 points to lead Neosho, while Garrett closed with seven points in the loss.

UP NEXT

Joplin hosts McDonald County at 6 p.m. on Tuesday to wrap the regular season.

Neosho travels to Nixa on Tuesday night before taking on Parkview at 11:30 p.m. at Willard High School in the Class 5 District 6 opening round on Saturday.

Joplin senior Ella Hafer backs down her opponent during the Eagles’ win over Neosho on Monday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

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