WEBB CITY, Mo. — Webb City remained unbeaten inside the friendly confines of the Cardinal Dome with Saturday’s 64-55 win over Monett in the 4-States Challenge.
The Cardinals are now 4-0 on their home court.
Webb City built an early 19-point lead, but the Cardinals had to hold off Monett’s late rally.
The Cubs trimmed their deficit to four with just over a minute to play, but the Cardinals did more than enough down the stretch to come out victorious.
“It was a different pace of play and it was good for us to be in a situation like that,” Cardinals coach Jason Horn said. “We made enough plays to win and I think we’ll learn from this one.”
Webb City improved to 5-2 on the season.
The Cubs, who won the Seneca Invitational last weekend, fell to 3-4.
NAMES & NUMBERS
Three players scored in double figures for the Cardinals.
Senior guard Joe Adams led the way with 21 points.
Adams made 8-of-14 field goal attempts, including five 3-pointers.
Junior guard Barron Duda added 13 points and senior forward Alex Martin had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Sophomore guard Holton Keith contributed nine points and five assists.
The Cardinals made 21-of-47 shot attempts (45 percent), including 8-for-25 from beyond the arc (32 percent).
Webb City out-rebounded Monett 32-22, but the Cardinals turned the ball over 10 times to the Cubs’ four.
Monett made 23-of-55 shots (42 percent) but went just 1-for-9 from 3-point range.
Senior post player Isiah Meeks led the Cubs with 24 points. The 6-foot-6 Meeks made 10-of-21 field goal attempts and also grabbed eight rebounds.
Senior guard Jason Garner added 14 points for the Cubs.
GAME RECAP
Webb City got off to a scorching start, as the hosts put together a 16-0 run in the first period to take a 24-5 advantage.
During the early surge, Adams knocked down three treys, while Duda and Keith each made one 3-pointer.
“Our guards did a good job of penetrating and kicking it out,” Horn said. “Joe Adams was really good for us and we did a good job of finding him. He was catching the ball in rhythm. Alex Martin was doing a good job of finding people on the kickouts. We were able to get a lot of open 3s and we were able to capitalize.”
Down 24-7 at the end of the first quarter, Monett used a 10-3 run in the second period to get back into the game.
After an 11-4 spurt and led by 17 first-half points by Adams, Webb City held a 38-25 halftime advantage.
The third quarter was nearly even, as Webb City outscored Monett 13-12 to take a 51-37 lead into the final frame.
The slow-paced fourth quarter saw Monett outscored Webb City 18-13.
Once up 19, Webb City’s lead was down to four with 1:09 to play at 58-54.
Webb City sophomore guard Eli Pace hit two free throws with 50 seconds left to extend his team’s cushion to six.
Meeks hit 1-of-2 shots at the charity stripe to pull the Cubs within five, but there were only 35 seconds left.
The visitors wouldn’t score again, while Martin and Duda scored late in the contest for the final margin.
“Defensively, we were prepared for (Blaine) Salsman,” Horn said. “He’s a great shooter. We wanted to take him out of the game, and I think we did a great job of that. But we weren’t able to press, and we weren’t able to get into transition like we normally would. But I thought we had a great effort overall defensively.”
This is the seventh year Webb City has hosted the 4-States Challenge. The host Cardinals have won three straight in the event.
12 COURTS OF CHRISTMAS
The Cardinals will return to action on Dec. 29 against Kirksville at the 12 Courts of Christmas event at Hy-Vee Arena in Kansas City.
“I’m excited about the 12 Courts of Christmas,” Horn said. “Kirksville is a different opponent for us. They had a really good year last year and they have some guys back from that team. It’s nice to see a different opponent from a different part of the state.”
4-States Challenge results
College Heights Christian 53, Liberal 26
Sunrise Christian (Kan) 60, East Newton 43
Parkview 60, Carthage 50
Webb City 64, Monett 55
Joplin 68, Rogers (Ark.) 48
WEBB CITY-MONETT STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)
