BY JARED PORTER
The Webb City boys basketball team led Class 7A Arkansas power Springdale for a large portion of the night, but the Bulldogs dominated the final quarter to come away with a 66-56 triumph at the Cardinal Dome on Friday.
The Cardinals (4-3) led by as many as eight points in the second half and held a 45-43 advantage at the end of the third.
But Springdale went on to outscore Webb City 23-11 in the fourth, thanks 21 attempts from the charity stripe in the quarter.
"We were aggressive defensively, and we got caught reaching a few times there in that final period," Webb City coach Jason Horn said. "We were just a little too aggressive and we bailed them out of a couple of traps. When you do that, good teams are going to make you pay. And they're certainly one of the top teams in their class in northwest Arkansas."
Twelve of the 23 points Springdale scored in the final period came at the free throw line.
The Bulldogs scored the first five points of the fourth to go up 48-45. After Webb City's Tanner Rogers drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 50, Springdale used a 16-6 run to finish out the final 4:45 of game clock.
"We were able to get some stops late, and offensively we started to get the ball inside the 3-point line," Springdale coach Jeremy Price said. "We got a few whistles on penetrations, and even though we didn't capitalize on all of our free throws, we made enough to build a good cushion there at the end."
The Cardinals extended a one-point halftime lead to eight points midway through the third quarter thanks to the hot hand of guard Terrell Kabala.
The junior missed the final four minutes or so of the first half after picking up a third foul, but once he returned to the floor in the third quarter, he managed to hit a pair of triples en route to a 12-point period.
Kabala finished the game with a team-high 23 points.
"(Kabala) played really well and showed a lot of composure," Horn said. "He got caught out of position in the first half to pick up that third foul, and he knew he had made a mistake. But he came back out of halftime and played smart and played well. Offensively, he's just a special player. He makes winning plays and he's a guys who can shoot the ball or take you off the dribble. He's only going to get better from here."
Sophomore guard Mekhi Garrard finished with eight points for Webb City and hit a pair of pivotal threes while Kabala was on the bench with foul trouble late in the first half.
"(Garrard) shoots the ball really well," Horn said. "He came in 30 minutes before our shootaround and got some extra shots up. He's a kid with a lot of talent, and we have a lot of high expectations for him moving forward."
The Cardinals also got eight points apiece from Alex Gaskill and Gary Clinton.
Joplin Globe 12/22/2018 (Used by permission)