A year ago, the Webb City Cardinals fell short in the Kaminsky Classic’s championship game.
This year, the Cardinals made sure history did not repeat itself.
By coming through in crunch time, and by securing one last defensive stop, Webb City knocked off Francis Howell 53-52 on Saturday in a thrilling finale of Joplin High School’s annual boys basketball tournament inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.
“I’m proud of our guys because we were mentally tough late in the game,” Cardinals coach Jason Horn said. “We didn’t let the momentum swing bother us. We stayed level-headed, we kept our composure, and we were able to make a few more plays late in the game.
“Right now, we have a really confident group,” Horn added. “We keep telling them that all of these games are just practice to get ready for the postseason. I think our guys feel like they can play with anybody right now. If we stay connected and play as a team, I think we can too.”
The back-and-forth title game featured six ties and nine lead changes.
The Cardinals trailed by a single tally when junior guard Barron Duda scored a go-ahead hoop in the paint with 1:46 remaining.
Neither team scored the rest of the way.
However, the Vikings had a couple of good looks in the final seconds of the game.
Following a timeout with six seconds left, Francis Howell’s Donovan Sparks missed a point-blank shot from in close before a tie-up resulted in a jump ball, giving the Vikings another offensive possession.
Francis Howell’s Dwight Lomax missed a contested 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded, securing the tourney title for the Cardinals.
“You have to give Francis Howell credit,” Horn said. “They drew up some good plays to get some good looks around the basket late in the game. Our guys battled through and they came up with a big stop and a big rebound at the end to seal the win.”
It was the third straight season the Cardinals were in the event’s title game, and this is their second tourney championship.
Joplin edged Webb City in last year’s championship game after the Cardinals beat the Eagles for the crown in ’21.
NAMES & NUMBERS
Winners of eight straight games, the Cardinals hiked their record to 10-2.
Webb City made 22-of-42 field goal attempts (52 percent), but the Cardinals went just 3-for-14 on 3-pointers.
Duda scored 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had four steals to lead the Cardinals, while sophomore guard Holton Keith added 11 points and four assists.
Omari Jackson and Eli Pace contributed seven points apiece, while Alex Martin scored six points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Joe Adams and Joel Hendrix added two points apiece. Duda and Martin were all-tourney selections.
Webb City scored 36 of their 53 points in the paint.
Francis Howell (7-4) made 18-of-44 field goal attempts (41 percent), with 7-of-20 from beyond the arc.
Donovan and Lomax scored 13 points apiece for the Vikings, who out-rebounded the Cardinals 29-23.
GAME RECAP: A BACK-AND-FORTH THRILLER
The contest was deadlocked late in the first quarter when Webb City’s Martin made one free throw and then converted a steal into a layup to give the Cardinals an 18-15 lead.
Webb City began the second quarter on a 12-3 surge, with Duda, Jackson and Pace all contributing hoops.
Jackson’s strong drive through the lane gave the Cardinals a 30-18 advantage with just under four minutes remaining in the first half.
But the Vikings responded with a burst of their own, as Francis Howell finished the second quarter on a 10-2 run, cutting Webb City’s halftime advantage to 33-28.
“I thought we had a great start to the game and I thought we were connected defensively,” Horn said. “We did a good job early of keeping them off the glass. They used their size to their advantage in the second and third quarters.”
Francis Howell outscored Webb City 11-8 in the back-and-forth third quarter, trimming the Cardinals’ cushion to 41-39 entering the final frame.
Webb City had to finish the game without Pace, a primary ball-handler who fouled out with just over six minutes to play.
The last tie score came at 47-all following a bucket inside from Webb City’s Hendrix, who had just come off the bench.
The Vikings received three points from Sparks, while the Cardinals answered with two buckets from Keith, the last giving Webb City a 51-50 advantage.
Sparks made two free throws to give his team a one-point cushion with two minutes left. Duda’s hoop soon followed, and it was the final basket of the night.
Both teams had empty possessions and turnovers late in the clash.
“We had some execution breakdowns late in the game, maybe not paying attention to the time and score,” Horn said. “We were a little loose with the ball. But we’ve got a young team and we need to keep growing. We have to learn that if you have a good team down, you can’t let them back in the game, you have to finish the job.”
Most importantly, the Cardinals held the Vikings scoreless in the final 2:05.
“This win means a lot to us,” said Keith, a sophomore guard. “This game was a lot of fun. We just wanted to play hard and play good defense. It took defense and rebounding in the fourth quarter.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Webb City will open conference play at home on Tuesday night against Neosho.
2023 Kaminsky Classic
Saturday’s results
7th place: Neosho 44, Carl Junction 38
5th place: Jefferson City 68, William Chrisman 53
3rd place: Joplin 66, Poplar Bluff 60
Title game: Webb City 53, Francis Howell 52
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Barron Duda, Webb City
Alex Martin, Webb City
Dwight Lomax, Francis Howell
Donovan Sparks, Francis Howell
All Wright, Joplin
Whit Hafer, Joplin
Jordan Martin, Jefferson City
Troy Taylor, William Chrisman
