Joplin’s bid to repeat as champions came to an end after struggles on the offensive end led to a 57-49 loss to Francis Howell in the semifinals of the Kaminsky Classic on Friday inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.
Though the Eagles (6-4) won the rebounding battle 39-27, Joplin shot just 27 percent from the field (16-for-60) in the loss, including 4-for-20 shooting from 3-point range and 13-of-21 at the free-throw line.
“I think it was mid-second quarter when we were up two on them and then they closed the first half on an 11-3 run, and it was simple stuff,” Joplin coach Bronson Schaake said after the loss. “We told our guys to beat them to the spot, but they have good bigs who know how to use their body and finish. It seemed like the second half was an up-and-down battle where we had chances to get back into the game but missed our opportunities and never did get that one big run to get us over the hump.”
UP NEXT
Joplin takes on Poplar Bluff in the third-place game at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“I want to see us bounce back,” Schaake said. “I think a few weeks ago when we lost to Lee’s Summit, we played the next day against Rogers (Arkansas) and played our best game of the year. I told the kids that yes, they’re not playing for a championship, but they need to come back tomorrow and respond because whoever we play is going to bring it to us.”
GAME ACTION
Joplin trailed by one heading into the second quarter before Whit Hafer, who sat much of the first half in foul trouble, made an instant impact upon checking in with a bucket in the paint off an inbounds pass to give the Eagles their first lead of the game, 13-12.
Jude James answered back with an inside bucket to regain the lead for Francis Howell before Ben Toebben added a pair of free throws to push the Bears’ lead to 16-13.
Joplin used a 6-0 run with a mid-range jumper from All Wright and two free throws each from Hobbs Gooch and Cooper Williams to build a 19-16 advantage.
William Chrisman closed the first half on a 11-3 push to take a 27-22 cushion into the intermission. Brennan Wibbenmeyer had two baskets in the run, with Donovan Sparks knocking down a 3-point and contributing five points in the surge.
“We outrebounded them, and I think we had 12 offensive rebounds in the first half,” Schaake said. “We were around the bucket, we just didn’t finish stuff. We have big guys. We need to stop trying to lay it up and start dunking the thing. That needs to be our mindset—to get and-1s instead of maybe making one-of-two from the free-throw line. We need to finish more around the bucket.”
Francis Howell pushed the lead to nine early in the second half off of buckets from Jeremiah Poniewaz and Sparks before a 3-pointer from Wright from the wing trimmed the Eagles’ deficit to 31-25.
The lead hovered in that area until back to back 3-pointers from Quin Renfro and Wright cut the Bears’ lead to one possession, 37-35, with 1:20 left in the period. William Chrisman ended up taking a 39-35 lead into the final eight minutes.
“He got into a rhythm,” Schaake said of Wright, who was four-of-eight from the field in the third quarter. “Once he sees it go in one or two times, confidence comes with it. They were trapping him pretty hard and he was trying to find the guys to flash the middle and attack. We just just need more guys to finish down there and that will help open his game up more.”
The Eagles got a free throw out of the break from Gooch to cut the lead to three, but that would be as close to the lead as Joplin would get down the stretch. Francis Howell went to the line 14 times in the fourth quarter and made every charity attempt to help stave off the Eagles. The Vikings were a perfect 20-for-20 shooting from the stripe in the win.
STAT LEADERS
Francis Howell—which won the battle in the paint 34-20 and shot 53 percent from the field in the win—was led in scoring by Sparks’ 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, adding 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double. James had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Dwight Lomax finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
Wright led Joplin in scoring with a game-high 25 points on 8-of-30 shooting, 3-for-14 from the perimeter to go along with six-of-seven shooting from the stripe. He added five rebounds, four steals and two assists. Renfro and Terrance each added seven points and combined for 16 rebounds. Gooch added eight rebounds and four points.
