BY LUCAS DAVIS
It took double overtime, but the top-seeded Webb City Cardinals captured its 19th district title in program history after holding off second-seeded Neosho 67-65 in the Class 4 District 12 championship game on Friday night at the Cardinal Dome.
"Our kids showed a lot of mental toughness and that comes from playing a grueling regular season schedule and being in this type of situation before," Cardinals coach Jason Horn said. "I think we were prepared for it and our kids really stayed even keeled.
"Our football program is such a monster that most people don't realize the tradition the basketball program has," Horn continued. "These kids take a lot of pride in adding to that tradition. Their goal was to get back to the district finals and win it. They stayed focused, practiced hard and deserve it."
Webb City (16-9) was held without a field goal in the second quarter and trailed by as many as nine points in the second half before fighting back to force overtime.
"Our pressure wore on them a little bit in the second half," Horn said. "Our rotation is a little deeper than theirs, so as you start to get tired, you are going to make mental mistakes. We were able to capitalize on that, using kids with fresh legs."
Webb City's Jaystin Smith, who knocked down two free throws with 30.3 ticks left in the first overtime to send the game into a second extra period, again came up big late when he converted inside and drew a foul for an old-fashioned three-point play off the feed from Alex Gaskill to put the Cardinals up 65-61 with 21.8 seconds remaining.
"It deflated them I think," Horn said. "It gave us the chance to push the lead to two possessions. Credit to Neosho because they stayed poised throughout. We were just lucky enough to make one more play than them tonight."
Neosho's Samuel Cradduck drove the baseline for a score to cut the lead to one possession, but Webb City's Tanner Rogers converted both charities on the ensuing possession to put the game out of reach, 67-63, with 4.5 seconds left.
Neosho's season ends with a 10-16 record. The Wildcats graduate Cradduck, Derek Ferguson, Kaden King, AC Marion and Cole Seward.
"I am really proud of my guys," first-year Neosho coach Zane Culp said. "They came in, executed well and held one of the most high-powered offenses in the area to 67 points in five quarters worth of time. We just came up a couple of free throws and rebounds short.
"These seniors were a great group of guys who had to deal with three different coaches in their career. I thought they did a great job this season and were a big reason why I wanted this job. They are a group who cared and wanted to do whatever it took to win."
As they often do, free throws played a large part in the outcome, as Webb City converted 24-of-36 charities, while Neosho was 10-of-20 from the foul line.
Terrell Kabala led Webb City with 16 points and seven rebounds on 4-of-10 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 from the stripe. Gaskill added 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while Smith put up 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go along with four rebounds. Gary Clinton gave Webb City four players with double figures, tallying 13 points and seven rebounds.
Seward led Neosho with a game-high 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting and added seven rebounds and two assists. Mason Gammons went 5-of-9 from 3-point land to finish with 17 points, while Marion scored 11. Cradduck finished with eight.
Webb City advances to the sectional round of the state tournament and will play the winner of the Class 4 District 11 championship between Rogersville (21-5) and West Plains (22-5) on Tuesday in Nixa.
Joplin Globe 03/02/2019 (Used by permission)