BY JASON PEAKE
Webb City nearly led wire-to-wire in Saturday's 57-47 victory over Joplin in the third-place game of the 2019 Kaminsky Classic at Joplin High School.
The Cardinals built an early double-digit lead and only trailed for 1 minute, 15 seconds in the intense rivalry game.
"We were really good defensively, especially in the first quarter," Webb City coach Jason Horn said. "We stuck to our assignments and we didn't give them a lot of driving lanes. Our guys made plays and we withstood their best shot in the second half. We knew they would make a run because they have great athletes. We just made a few more plays today."
Webb City raced out to an 11-3 lead, holding Joplin without a field goal in the first period. The Eagles went 0-for-12 from the field in the opening frame.
"I felt like they had more energy at the start of the game than we did," Joplin coach Jeff Hafer said.
"Webb City did a good job.
We didn't execute well against their zone and they had a lot to do with that.
They got good early looks and we shot it very poorly." Junior guard Terrell Kabala scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting for Webb City, with 12 of those points coming in the second half.
"Terrell was really good, especially in the second half," Horn said of the all-tourney selection. "I thought we was composed." Senior guard Alex Gaskill contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Cardinals (7-4), while sophomore guard Nickhai Howard chipped in nine points.
"Gaskill did a good job of directing traffic and I thought Nickhai played great," Horn said. "There were nine guys that got into the game and they all had a hand in it."
Webb City shot 43 percent (19-of-44), while Joplin shot 33 percent from the field (16of-48). Junior guard Evan Guillory recorded a double- double for the Eagles with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
"I thought Evan was a monster," Hafer said. "He exhausted himself and he kept us in it by going to the offensive glass and by being aggressive."
Junior Zach Westmoreland added 16 points for the Eagles, who fell to 6-8.
A trey from Howard gave Webb City a 14-5 cushion early in the second quarter, but the Eagles responded with an 8-0 burst, with four points apiece from Guillory and Westmoreland.
The Eagles had an opportunity to take the lead in the final seconds of the first half, but Mekhi Garrard converted Cohl Vaden's steal into a layup and the Cardinals led 16-13 at the break.
The first half could be called a defensive struggle, as the teams combined for 25 turnovers and only shot 11-of-37 from the field, including 2-of-18 from long distance.
"You could tell both teams played three games in three days," Hafer said.
Webb City finished the third quarter on a 9-1 run to pull away.
During the spurt, Kabala scored a pair of hoops on strong drives through the lane, Vaden swished a corner 3-pointer and Gaskill made two free throws, giving the Cardinals a 35-24 cushion.
Gaskill scored sixstraight points in the fourth quarter to extend Webb City's lead to 41-30 with just under six minutes to play. The Eagles pulled within six on two occasions in the final frame, but the Cardinals never relinquished their lead down the stretch "We had some opportunities in the fourth quarter," Hafer said. "We missed some layups and they turned into runouts for Webb City. We have to finish those shots. But I thought our kids played hard. We've got some things to work on before Tuesday."
These two teams meet again on Tuesday in Webb City.
Joplin Globe 1/6/2019 (Used by permission)