The West Plains Zizzers pulled ahead of the Camdenton Lakers in the second half of a conference contest Friday night to earn the win at home, 61-42.
The first half was riddled with turnovers and sloppy play, likely thanks to inclement weather during the week, resulting in each team missing playing and practice time. At the half, three points separated the teams, with West Plains holding on to a 24-21 lead. But the Zizzers came alive in the second half, leading by 9 points to close the third, and adding 23 points in the fourth while holding the Lakers to 13 points.
“There was about a five-minute stretch in the third quarter and a five-minute stretch in the fourth quarter where we kind of pulled away and did things right again, and again, and again, offensively and defensively,” said West Plains head coach Kevin Smith. “We did a really good job of scoring the ball and we put a lot of points on the board really quick. We knew what we had to do, and we kind of got to that in the third quarter.”
Zak Adkisson led the scoring effort for the Zizzers, adding 12 points in the second half, and 16 total on the night. Coach Smith noted Adkisson’s strong play, both offensively and defensively. Sidney Jones and Chase Riley each had 12 points, and Gerard Dietrich and Christian Robbins, 8 each. Justin Nichols added 5 points.
“Gerard Detrick and Sydney Jones really stood out to me and did what they did well, rebounding the ball and playing good post defense and scoring around the rim,” said Coach Smith.
“That was a good conference win, so we’re excited about that,” he added.
Camdenton head coach Kirk Richey said his team played well to start the game, but turned the ball over too frequently in the fourth quarter. “I thought our intensity level was pretty high coming out of the gate, but their size eventually wore us down and we got tired,” he said. “They had a good game plan. They pounded the ball inside and they executed it well, and we tip our hat to West Plains. They did a good job and made more buckets than we did and finished plays.”
The Lakers connected on nine shots from behind the arc to score 27 of their 42 points. Hunter Hood was the leading scorer for Camdenton with 16 points, which included four three-pointers. Also scoring: Braden Demark, 14, Dyllan Decker, 7, Riley Shriver, 3, and Brady Kempf, 2.
“We are getting better, but we just have to put the four quarters together,” said Coach Richey. “Collectively, we are a good basketball team. We’ve got a bunch of guys that come in and do their job every day, and I think that’s the key to our success. I think if we do that well, we can win some basketball games.”
