BRANSON 44, JOPLIN 37
BRANSON, Mo. — The Joplin girls cut a double-digit deficit in the second half to five points with less than a minute to play before ultimately falling to Branson in Central Ozark Conference play on Thursday.
“Turnovers and missed free throws beat us tonight,” Joplin coach Luke Floyd said. “We didn’t match Branson’s energy in the first half and dug ourselves a hole we couldn’t recover from. We have to stop beating ourselves with the same mistakes over and over again.”
The Eagles (5-8, 0-3 COC) went into the half trailing 25-12 with the lead meandering back and forth around the double-digit mark all the way up until two minutes of game action left.
With Branson (2-10, 1-1) leading 39-29, Joplin’s Lily Pagan scored inside to trim the lead to 39-31 with 1:45 to play. Brynn Driver followed with a 3-pointer a minute later to cut the lead to six, 41-35, with 52.7 seconds left. Pagan scored off the break with 26 seconds remining to make the score 42-37, but that would be as close as the Eagles would get before the final horn.
Driver led Joplin with nine points, while Pagan added eight. Brooke Nice added seven points.
Joplin hosts Hillcrest on Jan. 21.
NIXA 70, CARTHAGE 52
NIXA, Mo. — Nixa pushed a 33-26 halftime lead to a 30-point margin to start the fourth on the way to the win over Carthage.
The Eagles (12-4, 1-1 COC) outscored the Tigers (10-7, 1-2) by a 23-13 clip in the third quarter to pull away.
Macie Conway led Nixa with 20 points, while Ali Kamies added 15. Nora Clark finished with 13 points.
Hailey Fullerton led Carthage with a game-high 25 points, including two 3-pointers. Kianna Yates added 11 points, while Brinna Ream finished with eight.
Carthage is at Lamar on Jan. 26.
OZARK GIRLS 52, WEBB CITY 33
OZARK, Mo. — Hot-shooting Ozark defeated Webb City 52-33 on Thursday in COC girls action.
The Cardinals slipped to 4-6 overall and 1-1 in the conference, while Ozark improved to 6-8 and 2-0 in COC play.
Jaydee Duda scored 15 points for Webb City, while Kenzie Robbins added 10 points. Both players made two 3-pointers.
Anna Hitt led Ozark with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Lyla Watson added 15.
The Tigers, who shot 45 percent from the floor, made 15 field goals—nine were 3-pointers.
Ozark led 18-7 at the end of the first quarter and 26-19 at the break.
The Cardinals cut their deficit to five in the third quarter before the Tigers hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Webb City trailed 36-28 entering the fourth quarter.
The Tigers then scored the first eight points of the final frame to extend their lead to 16 points.
Webb City is at the Logan-Rogersville Tournament beginning on Monday.
WYANDOTTE 48, COLLEGE HEIGHTS 41
WYANDOTTE, Okla. — Wyandotte took a 24-23 lead into the locker room before outscoring College Heights Christian 20-7 in the third period to steal the momentum en route to victory.
College Heights limited Wyandotte to one field goal in the fourth quarter, but was unable to overcome the deficit.
Jayli Johnson led the Cougars (10-2) with 11 points, while Lainey Lett finished with 10. Grace Bishop scored eight and Catie Secker added seven.
College Heights takes part in the Lancer Classic on Jan. 18.
MOUNT VERNON GIRLS 68, MONETT 25
MONETT, Mo. — Lacy Stokes scored 20 points as the Mount Vernon girls basketball team earned a Big 8 win.
Ellie Johnston added 12 points for the Mountaineers, who led 14-5 by the end of the first quarter. Johnston hit four 3-pointers.
Also for the Mountaineers, Allie Schubert and Jolie Prescott added nine points apiece and Kadence Krempges scored eight.
Mount Vernon led 34-13 at intermission.
Sadie Camp led Monett with nine points.
