NEOSHO, Mo. — With three minutes and 12 seconds remaining in regulation during their Neosho Holiday Classic opener on Wednesday, all signs pointed toward a defeat for the host Neosho Wildcats against the Van Buren Pointers at Neosho Junior High.
Van Buren’s Caylee Barbour heated up from 3-point range late in the third and early in the fourth quarter and her teammate Camryn Schmidt provided the other four points during a 10-2 run in the first 2:45 of the fourth that put the Pointers up 42-35.
Jaci Odom’s two free throws then gave Van Buren a 48-37 lead with 3:12 remaining.
After that, everything changed so dramatically that Neosho scored the game’s final 15 points and came out with a stunning 52-48 win.
The Wildcats’ turnover rate slowed down in the fourth, Reagan McInturff hit the go-ahead 3-point shot with just under a minute remaining, the Wildcats completely took the Pointers out of their offense that final 3:12, and Neosho made seven free throws down the home stretch.
“What we have been harping on them all season to break is this—when it gets tough, we fold up, we lay down and it’s over,” Neosho coach Daniel Durst said. “So, really, we had a timeout with about three minutes left and I just had that conversation with them. This is exactly what we fight against all the time, it’s just laying down and rolling over. Now you’ve got to stand up, you’ve got to sprint hard, and it’s got to be the three hardest minutes of defense you’ve ever played. They responded.”
Neosho led Van Buren 10-9 after one quarter, the teams were tied at 19 at halftime, and Neosho led 33-32 entering the fourth.
Turnovers slowed Neosho down — 21 after three quarters with seven in each quarter, but Neosho committed only three in the fourth.
Van Buren, meanwhile, committed seven in the fourth and finished with 23 turnovers.
“Turnovers killed us,” Durst said, “but I knew it was going to be a sloppy game coming off break because it always is. Luckily, we were able to pull that out.”
Neosho last played Dec. 19 against William Chrisman.
Neosho senior Karlee Ellick finished with a double-double with a game-high 17 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. She already had a double-double at halftime with 10 points and 13 rebounds in the first 16 minutes.
“She gets us going,” Durst said. “When teams pressure her, then we falter a little bit until we can get our bearings again.”
McInturff added 13 points, Beclynn Garrett scored all 11 of her points in the second half and came through with five assists, three rebounds and six steals after being slowed down by foul trouble in the first half, Maelynn Garrett and Avyn Blair each added four points, Raine Harris added two points, and Courtney Thomason rounded out the scoring with one point.
The Wildcats finished 15-25 (60 percent) from the line and owned a nine-point advantage on Van Buren in made free throws.
Van Buren made five more 3-point baskets (8-3) than Neosho.
Ellick’s work on the glass contributed to a 33-23 rebounding advantage for the Wildcats.
Aspen Cone and Schmidt each led Van Buren (7-6) with 11 points and Barbour had nine. Foul trouble in the second half slowed Cone down after she had nine points in the first half.
Neosho improved to 6-4 overall and the Wildcats play Whitehaven (Tenn.) in their next Holiday Classic game at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Neosho Junior High.
Whitehaven defeated St. Joseph Lafayette 58-46 on Wednesday.
NEOSHO BOYS 61, CASSVILLE 43
Cassville led Neosho for all of 49 seconds and the game was tied for 2:15 during their Neosho Holiday Classic Black Division quarterfinal game Wednesday at Neosho High School.
Neosho went on to a 38-16 halftime lead behind a dominant 25-10 second quarter.
Cassville finished the contest with 20 turnovers, which led directly to 23 Neosho points and a 17-2 edge in fast break points for the host Wildcats.
“Defense is what we pride ourselves on,” Neosho coach Zane Culp said. “It’s not necessarily a press or anything special, it’s just about making them take tough shots. We started slow offensively … we got a groove going. They play a good 1-3-1 matchup zone, but once we got the feeling of it, we were in a good spot.”
Isaiah Green led Neosho with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds and finished with six assists. Carter Baslee had 11 points and seven rebounds, Carter Fenske added 10 points, Michael Day contributed eight points off the bench, and Kael Smith and Jared Siler each added five, Collier Hendricks four, Brodie Arthur three, and Brock Franklin two points.
Aidan Cook finished with 12 points to lead Cassville.
Neosho, now 7-1 overall, plays the Crooked Oak (Okla.) Ruf-Nex in a semifinal game at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Neosho High School.
The Ruf-Nex roughed up East Newton 79-52 in their Holiday Classic opener Wednesday.
HUNTSVILLE (ARK.) BOYS 67, MCDONALD COUNTY 57
The Huntsville Eagles erased a 35-27 halftime deficit and earned a 10-point victory Wednesday over the McDonald County Mustangs with a 40-22 second half, including a 20-9 fourth quarter.
Huntsville took control for good of the contest with eight unanswered points in 83 seconds of the fourth quarter, turning a 53-51 deficit into a 59-53 lead with 3:11 remaining in regulation.
Huntsville’s guard tandem of Mason Davidson and Troy Lambert proved too much for the Mustangs, especially in the second half, and they finished with a combined 46 points (Davidson 24, Lambert 22).
McDonald County’s Cross Dowd scored a game-high 25 points.
“I thought we came out in the first half and had a decent amount of energy,” McDonald County coach Brandon Joines said. “We executed pretty well. Second half, they had more of the energy, and they had the little extra spark to get going and we struggled to score the ball. We got a little hesitant with our movement and bad things started to happen.
“Then, on the other end of the floor, defensively, we let two guys (Davidson, Lambert) who are solid scorers, and they can shoot the ball … we let them shoot for free.”
McDonald County dropped to 5-5 on the season overall and the Mustangs face Sapulpa (Okla.) in a Black Division consolation semifinal at 10 a.m. Thursday at Neosho Junior High.
Sapulpa took a 51-50 loss Wednesday against Monett.
68TH ANNUAL NEOSHO HOLIDAY CLASSIC
WEDNESDAY’S SCORES
Cypress Falls (Texas) 76, Memphis Mitchell (Tenn.) 45
Huntsville (Ark.) 67, McDonald County 57
Monett 51, Sapulpa (Okla.) 50
Van Buren (Ark.) 51, Morrilton (Ark.) 48 (OT)
Crooked Oak (Okla.) 79, East Newton 52
Bentonville (Ark.) 75, Maumelle (Ark.) 50
Fort Smith Northside (Ark.) girls 57, Stoutland 15
Neosho girls 52, Van Buren (Ark.) 48
Neosho 61, Cassville 43
Memphis Whitehaven (Tenn.) girls 58, St. Joseph Lafayette 46
Atascocita (Texas) 67, Lafayette 62
THURSDAY’S GAMES
at Neosho High School
Maumelle (Ark.) vs. Memphis Mitchell (Tenn.), 10 a.m.
Lafayette vs. Morrilton (Ark.), 11:30 p.m.
Monett vs. Huntsville (Ark.), 1 p.m.
Bentonville (Ark.) vs. Cypress Falls (Texas), 3 p.m.
Crooked Oak (Okla.) vs. Neosho, 4:30 p.m.
Atascocita (Texas) vs. Van Buren (Ark.), 6 p.m.
at Neosho Junior High
Sapulpa (Okla.) vs. McDonald County, 10 a.m.
East Newton vs. Cassville, 11:30 a.m.
Fort Smith Northside (Ark.) girls vs. Lafayette, 1 p.m.
Neosho girls vs. Memphis Whitehaven (Tenn.), 2:30 p.m.
Stoutland girls vs. Van Buren (Ark.), 4 p.m.
