Tigers knock off state-ranked Willard in thriller, 58-55, notch signature victory

WEBB CITY, Mo. — Not even three consecutive late-game misses on the front-end of one-and one free throws could slow the Nevada Tigers during Saturday's dramatic 58-55 victory over Class 5 state-ranked Willard at the 4-States Challenge.

Nevada entered the showdown at the Webb City High School Cardinal Dome ranked No. 7 in the latest Class 4 poll, and more than lived up to that billing in what can only be described as a signature victory for head coach Shaun Gray's 7-0 squad.

"People close to our program know that our group can compete with anybody," Gray said after the game. "But this win may have proved it, to anybody else who may not have already known that."

Nevada trailed 14-12 at the conclusion of the opening frame, with Willard holding a 28-26 halftime edge. Seventy-percent of the Tigers' first-half offensive production came via the 3-ball, with Nevada knocking down six triples. The McNeley twins, Lane and Logan, accounted for five of the six first half trifectas.

The Tigers opened the second half with a bang as a Dalton Gayman block led to Logan McNeley's 3-pointer at the other end of the floor and a 29-28 Nevada lead.

With 5:52 remaining in the third Gayman's precision pass to a cutting Logan Applegate jump-started a 7-2 Tiger run, capped by Gayman's floating, body control lay-in for a 38-32 advantage.

Nevada extended its lead to 46-39 via Gayman's kick-out pass to Noah Cheaney in the left corner for a trey. After seeing their advantage trimmed back to five, the Tigers closed out the frame on a 4-0 blitz, courtesy of Gayman's power-move lay-in and Applegate's steal and breakaway bucket just prior to the third quarter horn.

The late flurry handed Nevada its biggest lead of the contest at 50-41.

Nevada was held scoreless for the first 3:40 of the final frame, breaking the drought on Gayman's lob pass to Applegate for the soft-tap lay-in as the Tigers led, 52-44.

Aided by a pair of misses on the front-end of one-and one free throw attempts Willard stormed back. The second of those misses came at the 1:25 mark as Nevada's best free throw shooter, Applegate, was off-target.

At the other end Maurice Grayer sliced the lead to 52-51, knocking down a pair from the line. The Tigers then broke Willard's full-court press, with an outlet pass finding Gayman in the open-court for the lay-in and a three-point Nevada cushion.

"We put Dalton in the middle, and it's all kind of dependent on how they guard," Gray explained of the late-game press-breaker strategy. "If they played up, with too much pressure, we beat them deep with Dalton. Then, if they sit back, we're (also) able to easily break the pressure, because Dalton's such a big target in the middle. Great job by him of being active, and great job by our guards of finding him over-the-top."

History repeated itself on the ensuing possessions, with Willard again cutting the deficit to a point from the charity stripe, and Nevada again breaking the Willard press for a Gayman close-range bucket and a 56-53 lead with 47 seconds remaining.

Coming out of a full timeout Willard's 6-foot-6 stretch-four star (forward) Daniel Abreu converted a back-door lay-in, trimming their deficit to a point. For a third consecutive possession Gayman found himself with the ball and a breakaway lay-in, as Nevada led 58-55 with 20 seconds showing on the clock.

Looking to send the came to overtime Willard dribbled around the perimeter for 15 seconds before Grayer launched an airball from the top of the key. Gayman rebounded and was sent to the line, but was unable to put the contest on ice, accounting for Nevada's third consecutive miss on the front-end of a one-and-one.

Willard (6-2) rebounded and quickly called timeout with 3.5 remaining, but was still tasked with inbounding from beneath Nevada's basket. On the final play Willard took too much time attempting to get the ball up-court, with Abreu's off-the-mark trey coming a split-second after the final horn.

For the undefeated Tigers Applegate shared game-high scoring honors with Abreu, as the pair concluded with 17 points apiece. Additionally for Nevada, Gayman tallied 15, Logan McNeley 12, and Lane McNeley 11 in the winning effort.

Gray said he was probably most pleased with his club's defensive effort on Abreu, the reigning Central Ozark Conference Player of the Year, and All-State selection. Abreu is fresh off a monster junior campaign, in which he posted averages of 27.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

"He's a great 3-point shooter, think we held him to one three on the night — and he's a load inside," Gray noted of the NCAA D-2 Northwest Missouri State University commit. "His 17 points were quiet, and hard-fought."

Added Gray: "If we made them run clock, made them be super-patient, then we knew we would disrupt their flow offensively. And, hats off to our guys for doing that."

Gray also pointed to the early-going, as his club trailed 8-2 out of the gate.

"Our guys did not have any look of panic, they just kept bringing it, possession-after possession," he said. "I liked that at halftime they came in, and you felt like it was a group of guys who thought they were going to come back out and win the game."

Gray further elaborated on his club's excellent second half play, notably the third quarter, where Nevada outscored Willard 24-13.

"We were able to find a weakness defensively," he said. "They had a defender who was not very good in the pick-and-roll in the first half that we weren't able to attack. This group relishes being the better team in the second half."

Gray also touched on the uncharacteristically shaky free throw shooting down the stretch. "Those are three guys who are really good free throw shooters — Applegate, (Logan) McNeley, and Gayman," he said. "But, we didn't sub the entire game, those five guys played wire-to-wire. You can't simulate how tired your legs are in that situation in practice. I'm not disappointed at all, I'm proud of how hard these guys played."

Up Next

Nevada is idle until Jan. 3, when they return from Christmas break for a non-conference home clash with former West Central Conference foe Clinton.

Despite the unblemished record, Gray says he sees much room for improvement during the extended layoff.

"We will continue to get better, so I'm excited about the break," Gray began. "I'm excited about this group's mentality and their attitude. It should be a fun Christmas break — and we're excited to see what happens in January, February, and March."

4-States Challenge results

• Nevada 58, Willard 55; Carthage 79, Pittsburg 60; Mount Vernon 50, Neosho 43; College Heights Christian 77, Galena 56.