NEOSHO, Mo. — The McDonald County Mustangs took care of business, and now, longtime rivals will square off in the championship game of the Neosho Holiday Classic’s Black bracket.
McDonald County’s boys took control in the first half en route to a 65-53 win over Lamar on Wednesday in the division’s semifinals.
The Mustangs (6-4) will take on the rival Neosho Wildcats (7-2) at 6:30 on Thursday night for the bracket championship. In the other semifinal, Neosho used a strong fourth quarter to beat Huntsville 62-44.
“Both teams accomplished their goals of getting to the championship game and I’m sure it will be a dogfight like it always is,” McDonald County coach Brandon Joines said of the matchup with the Wildcats. “The emotions are always high when we play Neosho. If we play our game, limit turnovers and be aggressive defensively, I think good things will happen for us. I think Neosho wants to play a similar style as we do, so it will come down to who can play with confidence and who can hit shots. We’ll see which team can make it happen.”
The Mustangs led 21-15 at the end of the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the way. McDonald County was up 32-23 at halftime and extended the advantage to 52-39 by the end of the third quarter.
The Mustangs took their biggest lead at 61-45 with four minutes to play.
“I thought we played pretty well,” Joines said. “We got the ball inside and worked it back out when we needed to. We made good decisions with the ball and we limited turnovers. We made them play at our pace. When we do that, we’re tough to beat.”
Four players scored in double figures for the Mustangs. Eli McClain and Teddy Reedybacon scored 13 points apiece, while Cross Dowd added 11 and Cole Martin had 10.
Two others, Pierce Harmon and Sterling Woods, contributed eight points apiece. Reedybacon had 12 rebounds, while Woods had five assists and Harmon grabbed four steals.
McDonald County hit 25-of-54 shots (46 percent), including 7-of-20 from long distance.
Lamar made 22-of-58 field goal attempts (38 percent), with 7-of-28 from beyond the arc.
Conner Shoff scored 14 points to lead the Tigers, while Austin Wilkerson had 10 points and five rebounds. Joel Beshore handed out three assists.
Lamar (5-4) will meet Huntsville (8-4) at noon on Thursday in the bracket’s third-place game.
MONETT 46, CASSVILLE 40 (OT)
The consolation bracket clash between Big 8 Conference foes was deadlocked at 35 at the end of regulation before Monett outscored Cassville 11-5 in the extra session.
Monett’s Wyatt Sitton-Barrows scored 14 points to lead the Cubs (5-4), while Cameron Erwin added 12. Jonathan Dunbar scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Cassville (3-6).
Monett will meet Crooked Oak for fifth place at 2 p.m. on Thursday at the junior high. Crooked Oak edged the Maumelle JV team 72-69.
Cassville will take on Maumelle JV for seventh place at 10:30 at the junior high.
GOLD DIVISION
EAST NEWTON 67, MEMPHIS MITCHELL 53
Gabe Bergen scored 21 points and Kelton Sorrell added 11 for the Patriots.
East Newton never trailed in this one. The Patriots led by six at the end of the first quarter and by 10 at halftime.
The Patriots, who made 25 of 49 field goal attempts, were up 56-39 entering the fourth quarter.
Tyler Lucas scored 20 points for Mitchell, while Kaden Smith added 16.
The Patriots meet Sapulpa at 10:30 on Thursday for fifth place.
