ST. PETERS, Mo. — The MSHSAA Class 1 Boys Swimming and Diving Championships got underway on Thursday at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.
The top 16 finishers in each preliminary event advanced to Friday’s finals, with the top eight qualifying for the championship finals and places 9-16 moving on to the consolation finals.
Carthage and Monett will have entries in Friday’s finals.
CARTHAGE
The Carthage Tigers advanced to the consolation finals in four events.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Kellen Frieling, Braxton McBride, Will Wright and Maveric Allphin finished 14th in 1:44.
Frieling placed 13th in the prelims of the 100 backstroke in 55.32 seconds.
Wright advanced in two individual events, as he placed 16th in both the 100 breaststroke (1:02) and the 200 IM (2:05).
Also for the Tigers, Frieling was 23rd in the 100 butterfly (56.06), Allphin was 25th in the 100 breaststroke (1:04) and McBride finished 24th in the 50 freestyle (22.92) and 32nd in the 100 free (52.09).
Carthage finished 21st in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:32, with McBride, Frieling, Daryl Martin and Wright competing.
The Tigers finished 30th in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:39, with Allphin, Martin, Ben Rogers and Aydan Nye competing.
WEBB CITY
Concluding his prep career alongside the state’s best, Webb City senior Micah Brouwer finished 29th in the 200 IM with a time of 2:13 and was also 31st in the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.
The Cardinals finished 28th in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:38, with Adrien Black, Aiden Patterson, Cole Dalton and Steve Kenlee competing.
In the 1-meter diving competition, Webb City’s Grant Humphrey finished 12th with a finals score of 323.45.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
Monett senior Ryan Goodson advanced to the finals in two events, as he finished sixth in the 100-yard freestyle (49.25) and 14th in the 50 free (22.2).
Nevada’s Trace Gould finished 18th in the 100 breaststroke and teammate Kolton Evans was 23rd in the 100 backstroke.
Monett’s Jonathan Apostol finished 22nd in the 100 breaststroke and 28th in the 200 IM.
Nevada’s 200 medley relay team finished 23rd, with Monett 29th in the same event.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Monett finished 29th and Nevada was 32nd. The Cubs were also 31st in the 400 freestyle relay.
The Class 1 finals and the Class 2 prelims are scheduled for Friday.
NEVADA, Mo. — A pair of huge innings propelled top-seeded Nevada to a dominant 18-0 run-rule victory over eighth-seeded Raytown on Thursday afternoon in the opener of the Class 4 District 7 softball tournament at Bushwhacker Field.
The Tigers scored seven runs in the first inning before adding 11 more runs in the second. The game ended after the Cardinals failed to score in the top of the third.
Nevada’s Peyton Eaton earned the pitching victory after allowing one hit and one walk in three innings. She struck out five.
The Tigers recorded 14 hits in just two at-bats, with nine different players contributing at least one hit.
Skyler Burns and Kaleiah Johnson drove in three runs apiece for the Tigers, while Ella Heathman, Addison McInroy and Hope Hearting added two RBI apiece. Hearting homered.
In Saturday’s semifinals, Nevada (25-7) will meet fifth-seeded Carl Junction (11-19) at noon.
The Bulldogs outslugged fourth-seeded McDonald County 19-15 in the second quarterfinal.
CARTHAGE, Mo. — With three of the top 10 individuals, the Joplin High School girls golf team captured the team championship at the annual eCarthage.com Invitational on Monday at the Carthage Golf Course.
The Eagles turned in a four-person score of 390. Joplin’s Drew Yockey finished fifth with a 91, while Scarlett Satterlee tied for sixth with a 92 and Kenna Haley placed 10th with a 97.
Carl Junction (412) and Mount Vernon (430) were second and third in the team standings.
Rounding out the team standings were El Dorado Springs (435), Monett (449), Seneca (463), Carthage (464), Webb City (466), McDonald County (512) and East Newton (520).
Nevada junior Emree Cameron was the individual medalist with a 2-under-par 69. Cameron, last year’s Class 2 state runner-up, was the lone player to shoot under par.
Cassville’s Avery Chappell was the individual runner-up with a 5-over-par 76, while Lamar’s Victoria O’Neal finished third with an 87 and Mount Vernon’s Kenadi Killingsworth placed fourth with an 89.
Yockey finished fifth, Carthage’s Addie Foust and Joplin’s Satterlee both carded 92 to tie for sixth, while Monett’s Katie Geiss finished eighth with a 94, Lamar’s Zavrie Wiss was ninth with a 96 and Haley rounded out the top 10.
Finishing 11th through 15th were Mount Vernon’s Emmie Schubert (98), Carl Junction’s Lyric Belcher (101), Joplin’s Emmie McGill (101), Nevada’s Paige Hertzberg (102) and Carl Junction’s Anna Burch (102).
Carl Junction’s duo of Alex Teeter (104) and Olivia Teeter (105) finished 17th and 18th, respectively.
Webb City’s Isabella Manes finished 19th with a 107 and Nevada’s Litzi Mullin, Seneca’s Madi Aumen and Cassville’s Adelee Hendricks all tied for 20th with scores of 108.
Carl Junction’s Rylie Matyi took 23rd (109) and Joplin’s Chloe Friend finished 24th (110).
There were more than 60 golfers competing.
EAGLES OFF TO STELLAR START
The Joplin Eagles are off to a stellar start to the 2023 season.
In addition to winning Monday’s tourney in Carthage, the Eagles won the Seneca tri-match and have finished second in tournaments hosted by Ozark, Carl Junction and Springfield Catholic. Joplin also finished third at the Lamar Invitational.
SENECA, MOUNT VERNON ROLL, WILL MEET IN TITLE GAME
The top-seeded Seneca Indians rolled into the championship game of the Class 2 District 4 tournament by beating the fourth-seeded Hollister Tigers 42-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Seneca (9-1) will host No. 2 Mount Vernon (8-3) at 7 on Friday night.
Seneca’s Gavyn Hoover scored on a 6-yard run with 8:42 in the first quarter to open the scoring. A 17-yard run by Hoover and three touchdown runs from Jackson Marrs made it 35-0 at halftime.
Marrs scored with 4:29 left in the third period to give the Indians a 42-0 lead.
The Mountaineers beat Forsyth 42-15 on Saturday.
Mount Vernon led 35-0 at the half and 42-0 at the end of the third period.
LAMAR 56, STOCKTON 10
No. 1 seed Lamar beat No. 4 Stockton 56-10 in the semifinals of the Class 2 District 5 tournament on Saturday.
Lamar led 42-3 at halftime en route to the lopsided win.
Lamar (9-1) meets Fair Grove (7-4) in Friday’s district title game.
BOLIVAR 21, MCDONALD COUNTY 7
McDonald County’s season came to an end in the semifinals of the Class 4 District 6 tournament on Friday night.
The game was tied at halftime, but the second-seeded Liberators scored a pair of unanswered touchdowns in the second half to upend the sixth-seeded Mustangs.
McDonald County’s touchdown came on a 39-yard pass from Cross Dowd to Jack Parnell.
The Mustangs, who beat Marshfield 7-6 in the district quarterfinals, end the season with a record of 6-5.
The district championship game will feature No. 1 West Plains vs. No. 2 Bolivar on Friday.
NEVADA 43, LINCOLN PREP 7
Third-seeded Nevada advanced to the championship game of the Class 4 District 7 tournament by knocking off second-seeded Lincoln College Prep 43-7 on a rainy Friday night in Kansas City.
Avious Steadman scored four touchdowns for the Tigers, who are now 9-2. Also scoring touchdowns for the Tigers were Jordan Johnson and Henry Campbell.
Nevada is at No. 1 seed KC Center (10-0) next Friday in the district championship game.
Center defeated fifth-seeded Carl Junction 33-6 in the semifinals.
MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — Seneca snapped a 14-game skid to Mount Vernon, as the Indians earned their first win over the Mountaineers since 2014.
The Indians improved to 8-2.
The Grotjohn sisters combined for 40 points, as Aliya and Hazley scored 20 points apiece.
Cameryn Cassity scored 11 points for Mount Vernon (7-7), while Allie Schubert and Raegan Boswell added seven points apiece.
Led by 15 first half points by Aliya Grotjohn, the Indians held a 24-17 advantage at the break.
Hazley Grotjohn hit a halfcourt buzzer-beater to end the third period, and the Indians led 41-29.
Seneca is at Cassville on Tuesday. Mount Vernon hosts Monett on Thursday.
NEVADA GIRLS 48, EAST NEWTON 39
GRANBY, Mo. — Ignited by a strong second quarter, Nevada’s girls hiked their record to 9-3 overall and 2-0 in Big 8 West play with a 48-39 win over the East Newton Patriots on Monday night.
East Newton fell to 7-6 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
The Tigers led 9-8 at the end of the first quarter, but the visitors extended their lead to 10 by halftime at 30-20 after Clara Swearingen drilled a 3-pointer near halfcourt in the final seconds of the first half.
Nevada outscored East Newton 21-12 in the second period.
The Tigers held a 40-28 advantage by the end of the third quarter.
Despite missing seven straight free throws in the fourth quarter, the visitors never relinquished their lead.
Swearingen scored 20 points, with 16 in the first half. Nevada’s Maddy Majors added 13 points and Grace Barnes contributed seven.
Kylee Cole led the Patriots with 15 points, while Josie Guinn added nine points.
Nevada hosts Lamar on Tuesday, while East Newton hosts Southwest on Thursday.
WEBB CITY, Mo. — With the score deadlocked and with just over two minutes remaining in a win-or-go-home situation, Nevada senior guard Logan Applegate delivered a game-changing play.
Like a defensive back with his eyes on the quarterback, Applegate anticipated where the ball would be thrown and his gut instinct was correct.
Applegate’s late-game steal and breakaway dunk sparked second-seeded Nevada to a hard-fought 52-49 win over top-seeded Webb City in the championship game of the Class 5 District 12 tournament on Friday night inside a packed Cardinal Dome.
It’s Nevada’s first district championship since 1998.
“This means everything,” Applegate said. “I’m so happy. I love this team so much. We’ve had some really good teams, but we’ve been stuck in a tough district. It feels good to finally win one.”
Nevada had come close to capturing a district crown before, but this year, the Tigers finally got over the hump.
“It makes it that much sweeter,” Nevada coach Shaun Gray said. “These guys have been a part of some really good teams. We weren’t able to break through before. So this is a program win. It’s been 23 years. Our entire community is excited about this. And the Nevada faithful showed up tonight. Both sides had this place absolutely rocking.”
The score was tied at 44 when Applegate jumped in the passing lane, stole the ball and streaked down the court en route to a two-handed dunk.
The momentum-swinging play ignited the Tigers, and the visitors would never relinquish their lead.
“I saw him looking and he threw it without even looking and I just read it,” said Applegate, who finished with a game-high 29 points. “I’m up high on defense and I noticed they were starting to get lazy with some passes. I knew it was coming.”
“Logan Applegate, you can’t say enough about the type of player he is,” Gray said. “For him to come up with that steal when the game was tied…that was the absolute tipping point of the game.”
With the win, Nevada (21-5) will host Logan-Rogersville (20-5) in the sectional round of the state tournament at 6 on Tuesday night. The Big 8 Conference foes did not meet during the regular season.
Webb City (18-9) was looking to capture its third straight district championship and fifth in six years. It wasn’t meant to be.
“Logan Applegate played well, their team played well and executed well,” Webb City coach Jason Horn said. “The big difference was they were able to get to the free throw line and make their free throws. We got to the line late and had our chances to take the lead, but we just didn’t follow through and make shots.”
Playing their final game for the Cardinals were seniors Mekhi Garrard, Trenton Hayes, Nickhai Howard and Luke Brumit.
“I’ve been here five years and I’ve seen them grow,” Horn said. “I’m proud of the work they’ve put in. Some of those guys are classic examples of guys sticking it out and working hard for your turn. Hayes and Brumit really brought it. Nickhai proved he was one of the better players in the area. Garrard is just a tremendous athlete and a great defender. They were a good class. They’ve been in this game for four years, so that says a lot about them.”
NAMES & NUMBERS
Hayes led Webb City with 18 points. He made seven field goals, including four 3-pointers.
“He’s a great shooter, a hard-worker and an intelligent kid,” Horn said of Hayes. “We’ve coached him hard all year, and he rose up and played big in a big game. He kept us in the game.”
Junior guard Cohl Vaden added nine points, while Garrard, Brumit and junior Kaden Turner chipped in six points apiece. Howard rounded out Webb City’s scoring with four points.
Howard had 10 rebounds, while Turner had eight boards.
Webb City made 19-of-55 field goal attempts (35 percent). The Cardinals went 5-of-10 at the charity stripe.
Leading the Tigers with 29, Applegate made 7-of-14 field goal attempts, including two treys, and went 13-for-16 at the foul line.
Senior forward Ben Hines added 14 points for Nevada, while Logan McNeley had eight rebounds and three steals.
The Tigers shot 44 percent from the field (14-of-32) and connected on 21-of-33 free throw attempts.
Webb City committed 24 fouls to Nevada’s 15. Applegate and Hines finished the game with four fouls, while Webb City’s Garrard, Turner and Vaden all fouled out.
“We had to do a better job of keeping our hands off,” Horn said of the fouls. “We were fouling. If you give them free points, they’re going to make you pay.”
Nevada’s Logan Applegate puts up a shot in the lane during Friday’s district championship game against Webb City. Photo by Israel Perez.
GAME RECAP
The Cardinals and Tigers split two regular season meetings, and the rubber match was a thriller.
Webb City led 11-5 after a pair of 3-pointers from Hayes, but Nevada’s Case Sanderson hit a trey of his own. Turner’s hoop gave Webb City a 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“Webb City came out early and played like you expect a team on their home floor to play,” Gray said. “We were ice cold from the perimeter, but our guys showed grit and stayed together. That’s what it takes to win a district championship.”
The hosts took a seven-point lead early in the second quarter after baskets from Brumit and Hayes, but Nevada put together a game-changing 17-2 run.
Applegate scored 13 of the 17 points during the surge, with Hines putting in the other four.
With his team down eight, Hayes scored on a drive down the lane just before the end of first half, trimming his team’s halftime deficit to 27-21.
Webb City had three key performers pick up two fouls apiece in the first half.
A back-and-forth third period ended with Nevada clinging to a 39-36 lead.
The Cardinals missed four free throws early in the final frame, but Howard hit one at the line to tie the game at 44.
The hosts had several chances to take the lead, but shots simply wouldn’t fall.
Applegate’s key steal and dunk came with 2:19 remaining.
Webb City missed a trey on the other end and then fouled. Hines made 1-of-2 for a 47-44 cushion.
Once again, the Cardinals misfired from the field and then fouled.
Sanderson’s foul shot pushed the Tigers’ lead to four with a minute left to play.
Webb City’s Nickhai Howard looks to score against Nevada’s Ben Hines. Photo by Israel Perez.
After both teams had empty possessions, Brumit scored in the paint to cut Webb City’s deficit to two with 26.5 seconds remaining.
Applegate drew a foul and sank both free throws before Garrard drilled a 3-pointer with eight seconds left that cut Nevada’s lead to 50-49.
After a timeout, the Cardinals were unable to force a turnover and had to foul. Applegate came up big again, making both attempts for a three-point advantage with 7.5 seconds showing on the clock.
Howard’s last-second 3-pointer was off the mark.
In the second half, the Tigers didn’t allow the Cardinals to speed up the game.
To Gray, that was the goal.
“Webb City doesn’t lose very often when the score is in the mid-60s or 70s,” Gray said. “We have a lot of success when we hold our opponent in the 40s. It’s no secret that’s what we wanted to do.”
“These guys showed a lot of heart when the going got tough and waters were choppy,” Gray said. “We didn’t falter. We stayed together. There were times when Webb City was beating us up on the glass where it would have been easy to tuck our tails and run. We just kept coming.”
Once the final buzzer sounded, the celebration began for the Tigers.
“It’s Webb City at Webb City,” Applegate said. “We knew it was going to be packed. We were ready for it. It was the most fun game all year. It was so loud. We fed off that.”
Webb City’s Luke Brumit goes up for a putback against Nevada on Friday. Photo by Israel Perez.
Cohl Vaden makes a layup against Nevada on Friday night. Photo by Israel Perez.
The Carthage Tigers advanced to the consolation finals in four events.
The Eagles turned in a four-person score of 390. Joplin’s Drew Yockey finished fifth with a 91, while Scarlett Satterlee tied for sixth with a 92 and Kenna Haley placed 10th with a 97. 
