NMS 7th graders fall in Tri-County opener

Friday, February 20, 2015
Matt Resnick/Daily Mail/ Nevada Tigers seventh-grade forward Austin Bash goes up for a contested jumper, during the team's opening-round loss to Carl Junction in the Tri-Country Tournament.

Nevada Daily Mail

The Nevada Tigers seventh-grade boys basketball team fell to Carl Junction 35-25 in the opening round of the Tri-County Tournament, Wednesday night at the Nevada Community Center.

With the loss, Nevada finishes the season 6-13.

The Tigers dug an early hole, falling behind 25-3 at halftime, before regrouping and outplaying Carl Junction in the second half to get back into the game late.

Nevada head coach Robert Miner said he was thrilled with his team's second half performance.

I got into them a little bit at halftime to kind of challenge them," Miner said.

Miner said his team took better care of the ball, and was able to get to more lose balls in the second half.

"I think we just out-hustled them and played a lot better in the second half," he said.

Trailing 30-4 midway through the third quarter, Nevada went on an extended 14-4 run, slicing the deficit to 34-18 with 2:35 remaining in regulation.

The run was capped by a Grant Miller trey from the left wing with 2:35 remaining in regulation.

From there, the Tigers ended the game on a 7-1 run, for the final 10 point margin.

"They don't have that quit-mentality in them," Miner said. "And I was really proud that they didn't give up."

Miner said that his squad has come a long way since day one of practice.

"We were up and down a little," he said. "But the boys worked hard every day. The whole team from how we started the first day until now, is leaps and bounds better."

For Nevada, forward Austin Bash finished with a team-high 11 points, knocking down 6 of 10 free throws, while Miller and Noah Cheaney added five points apiece. Rounding out the scoring, Matthew Thorp chipped in with three.

Championship game

Top-seeded Webb City edged fourth-seeded Joplin East 40-37 in Thursday night's first semifinal, while second-seeded Carl Junction nipped sixth-seeded Neosho 32-30 in the second semifinal game at Nevada Middle School.

Webb City and Carl Junction will meet Friday night for the Tri-County title, with the tip off slated for 6:45 p.m., at NMS.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: