Kickapoo vs. Nixa has become one of the area’s top rivalries on the hardwood, but is it really a rivalry?
Entering Friday’s Class between the No. 5 Chiefs and No. 6 Eagles, Nixa had won 11 of the previous 13 meetings, including taking last year’s regular season and playoff meeting.
Kickapoo coach Dick Rippee didn’t harp on previous meetings or bring up revenge to his Chiefs, but that didn’t stop his team from salvaging its pride against Nixa, handing the Eagles a 74-43 beating in front of a packed house at Kickapoo High School.
“The past really doesn't matter,” said Kickapoo coach Dick Rippee. “We are working on this team being the best team we can be. This is a much different team than our past teams. It wouldn't be fair to them to talk about the past.”
While Kickapoo left previous results in the past, the Chiefs also left previous shooting woes.
After scoring just 46 and 47 points total in their last two meetings with Nixa, Kickapoo came out red-hot on Friday night, hitting nine 3s in the first half and eclipsing its previous two scoring outputs in just 16 minutes on Friday, taking a 47-24 lead into the break.
Junior guard Cam Davis scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, 15 of which came in the second quarter when Kickapoo outscored Nixa 28-11. Nixa made just three field goals in the quarter while Kickapoo hit six 3s and made 11 total field goals, ending the quarter with a 17-5 run.
“We shared the ball as well as we did back in the Blue and Gold in December,” said Rippee. “We didn't think we were very sharp in the TOC. We talked about moving the ball better, about going inside and then back out more often. I thought we did that well tonight… I'm especially proud for Cam. He's kind of the quiet assassin for us. He likes it that way; he doesn't need the attention. He's truly a team first guy. No one works any harder than him at their game. I believe that the game rewards hard work. And Cam is a great example of that!”
Junior forward Jared Ridder added 17 points, including a pair of dunks to punctuate Kickapoo’s dominating performance. Senior guards Niekie Thomas-Fontleroy and Derrick Robberson scored nine points apiece.
Senior Chase Allen scored a team-high 14 points for Nixa. Junior guard Seth Vierbrock scored five points before leaving the game with an ankle injury.
Longtime Nixa coach Jay Osborne minced no words when describing his team’s performance.
“I apologize to the fans that paid money to watch that because that was not Nixa’s best effort,” said Osborne. “No excuses. Losing our point guard devastates us when we don’t have that quickness out there. Plus he can shoot and score. They beat us in every phase of the game. Give them credit. There’s not much else to say. If we pout about this and feel sorry about ourselves we’ll get our butt beat tomorrow too.”
Nixa plays Class 5 No. 3 Hazelwood Central on Saturday. The Hawks are led by Kansas State signee Xavier Snead.
Coming off of last week’s Bass Pro Tournament of Champions that saw Kickapoo go 1-2, it’s only two losses of the season, Rippee didn’t feel as though his Chiefs needed a win. Kickapoo is idle for a week before jumping into Ozark Conference play in a race that includes state-ranked Rolla and rival Glendale.
“It's always a big game when Kickapoo and Nixa play,” said Rippee. “But as far as needing a win we didn't feel that way at all. We needed to play well. That is what we tried to focus on. Just playing well and moving the ball and guarding hard in the defensive end. We've had lots of great wins and I'm happy for our guys in that they wanted to play well tonight and were able to do what they set out to do.”
Kickapoo 74, Nixa 43
Nixa 13-11-12-7 – 43
Kickapoo 19-28-12-15 – 74
Nixa: Allen 14, Bundy 6, Dent 6, Canady 5, Vierbrock 5, Bacon 4, Bracker 3,
Kickapoo: Davis 21, Ridder 17, Robberson 9, Thomas-Fontleroy 9, Johnson 8, Blakeslee 6, Schmitz 2, Vokolek 2.
