Joplin and Neosho were never separated by more than 6 points throughout Friday night’s Central Ozark Conference West Division battle Friday night.
Neosho’s 6-point lead didn’t come until about the midway point of the fourth quarter and even after Joplin cut it back to just 2 with 1:15 to play, the Wildcats had it back out to 6 with 6.6 seconds left. A final shot from Joplin’s Trenton McCadney banked off the glass and in to make it 60-57 on a deep 3-pointer.
But that left just 0.3 seconds on the clock and Neosho inbounded the ball to the far end of the court and the clock ran out as the Wildcats claimed the win.
“That’s a very tightly contested game. We kind of had control I felt like the entire second half. … We’ve been playing so much better offensively by not taking bad shots,” Neosho head coach Zane Culp said.
The Wildcats (15-5) led for all but a few seconds of the second half. Joplin (8-12) trailed 58-54 late in the game and had a chance to cut into that but with 21.4 seconds left was called for an offensive foul.
“Obviously, we would have had to have a couple other things go right for us. We were just trying to get some separation, and they did a good job guarding that double pin-down action, and they called it (offensive foul) on us,” Joplin head coach Nick Pfeifer said. “I think it just comes down to us being able to make some shots that we wish we would’ve made that we didn’t.”
Joplin got another chance after that. Neosho tried to get the ball in to break the press and the inbound pass slipped right through the hands of Oliver Martin and out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Eagles with 19 seconds showing.
Drawing up another play, the Eagles got the ball into the hands of their shooter, Brecken Green. He faked, tried to use a dribble and still felt like he didn’t have enough room to get the shot off. But he rose up against the tightly contested defense after deciding he didn’t want to try to pass the ball with 10 seconds left. His shot didn’t touch anything as it fell short of the rim and went out of bounds with eight seconds remaining.
“We have to get it off. We could maybe use a timeout there, but we knew if we score there, we needed to get a timeout so we could get our defense set. I thought we executed OK. They just did a good job fighting through the screens,” Pfeifer said. “In that situation, if you can get the basketball out of your hands clean, that’s a tough shot but it’s not a terrible look in that situation.”
Joplin sent Neosho to the line where Kaiden Asberry made both free throws to stretch the lead back to 6 points. The Eagles’ McCadney then banked in his 27-foot 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 3, but that was the last attempt they got.
Ultimately, Pfeifer believes his guys did enough on defense to win the game but couldn’t find the bottom of the net in key situations.
“The game kind of played out the way I thought it would. … I knew it was going to be competitive throughout. … Ultimately, I think it was a good competitive game and they made more shots than we did,” he said. “Which is kind of frustrating because I thought we got stops when we needed to down the stretch. We just weren’t able to score on the other end.”
Early action
Neosho had three turnovers in the first 3:12 of the game. Immediately after the third miscue, Green lined up a triple to extend Joplin’s lead to 6 points at 11-5 — its largest lead of the game.
“That first quarter we were out of character, like balls bouncing off our hands, offensive rebounds that bounced off the backboard (for Joplin), I think some unlucky type plays, and with a little bit more mature team this year and some of the battles we’ve had with East Newton and McDonald County, they get you ready for times like these,” Culp said.
Culp’s team ended the first frame trailing 16-12. But it started the second quarter with Oliver Martin converting a layup and drawing the foul. He added the free throw to make it 16-15.
The Wildcats eventually took the lead back at 22-20 on a trey by Houston Branscum.
The teams traded baskets and the lead on four straight scores. Green hit a 3-pointer to put the Eagles up 23-22. Martin made a layup to put Neosho on top. McCadney converted a floater in the lane to get Joplin the lead back. Then Martin made 1 of 2 charities to tie the score at 25.
Trailing 28-25, Neosho got its biggest spark of the night from Martin. The senior guard rattled off 8 straight points with a pull-up midrange jumper and then consecutive 3-pointers.
“My jumper was feeling good pregame, and those were wide-open shots. I’ve been shooting pretty bad this season, but I just felt confident this game,” Martin said. “Not just scoringwise. Everything feels good.”
Culp noted it’s been hard for Martin to get everything to settle in this season after playing football in the fall and battling an ankle injury. He believes it has all started to click and that Friday’s 17-point performance was evidence of that. Three teammates joined him in double figures. Branscum and Asberry added 13, while Forsythe finished with 12.
“It makes it easier for a coach when you have so many guys that can do so much,” Culp said.
Martin’s 8-point run put Neosho up 33-28. It led 33-29 at halftime.
Joplin started the third quarter by making it a 2-point game on a layup by Taylor and then after a Forsythe layup, Taylor cut it down to 1 point at 35-34 on a 3-pointer over Asberry.
The Wildcats found themselves on top 42-37 a little later. The Eagles didn’t flinch. A quick pass from the hip between two defenders by T.J. Willis to Tucker Martin led to a layup in the lane to make it 42-39. After a stop, Martin was fouled and added two free shots to get Joplin within 1. Again, the Eagles got a stop and Taylor converted a layup to put the Eagles ahead 43-42.
But it didn’t last long. Branscum cashed in a shot beyond the arc for 3 points and got the home team back in front 45-43. Neosho led the rest of the night.
“Starting the COC West tonight, so, it’s good to start with a win and we beat Ozark on Tuesday, so we feel pretty good about where we’re at in the conference with five wins as opposed to one last year. Our plan is to always be ready for the next team, and we’re going to go give Republic a battle on Tuesday,” Culp said.
Joining Taylor in double figures was Green with 17 and McCadney with 10. Green scored 16 in the first half and was limited in the second.
After a tough COC West battle for these teams, they’ll return to the hardwood next week.
“They’re all battles. You feel like you’ve fought a war after each of them,” Pfeifer said.
Joplin hosts Miami, Oklahoma, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Neosho is at Republic (13-7) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
