When Webb City stepped onto the hardwood last Friday against Republic, inconsistency was the unfortunate theme for head coach Jeff Guiot's club in a seven-point road loss.
It's amazing how much difference four days can make.
Armed with a starting lineup that featured four players listed at 6-foot-1 or taller, the Cardinals (15-5, 2-1 COC) righted the errors from their uneven play and managed to construct a complete game on Tuesday for a 64-39 victory over the Willard Tigers (7-14, 0-3 COC).
“We were far more consistent,” Guiot said on Tuesday's win. “We did a good job getting the ball inside, sharing the ball and executing. We got off to a slow start in the first quarter, but the last three, we really put it all together.”
That slow first-quarter start was primarily thanks to Willard's ability to force nine turnovers over the opening eight minutes – ultimately giving the Tigers a slim, but valued 10-9 advantage at the period's end.
“They were far more aggressive,” said Guiot in reference to Willard in the first quarter of play. “They were sharper to the ball. Offensively, they were passing the ball quicker and sharper than we were. Defensively, they were moving quicker and sharper than we were.”
Although the Cardinals were playing far from poorly, they knew they had to do a better job of utilizing their most potent weapon – size.
Webb City answered the call to the tune of a 13-0 run early in the second quarter after a pair of free-throws by Willard's Stone Jackson briefly put the Tigers up by three.
Guiot's squad used its superior height to its advantage on both sides of the ball and was simply relentless inside during the spurt, which gave Webb City a ten-point lead with four minutes to play until halftime and left Tigers head coach Lamont Frazier realizing the glaring drawbacks of being outsized.
“If you ignore that and say that wasn't a factor, you'd be misspoken,” Frazier said on Webb City's height advantage. “We knew coming into [the game] that we were going to have our hands full. That really took a toll on us.”
Senior forward Zach Davidson led the Webb City charge in a second quarter that saw the Cardinals stretch their lead to eleven by halftime. Standing at 6-foot-7, Davidson tallied nine of his team's 17 points off the bench in the quarter after being held scoreless in the first period.
“We did a much better job of getting [Davidson] the ball and when he caught it, he went straight up quick,” Guiot said. “He didn't look around and this and that. [Willard's] tallest guy was 6-foot, so there's no evaluation here. You catch it, you go up and you shoot it. If they block it, more power to them.”
Following Davidson's efforts, sophomore Payton Guiot, junior Trey Gibson and seniors Tate Smith and Kaden Roy all put up admirable performances in the second half as the Cardinals would go on to outscore Willard 20-10 in the third quarter and eventually reach the high-water mark of a 29-point edge on two occasions in the fourth.
Davidson and Guiot finished with a game-high 15 points each, while Gibson recorded 10. Smith and Roy each totaled nine points on the night.
After a game in which senior forward Preston Ellis was virtually the entire offense for the Cardinals, a much more balanced attack was a key ingredient in Tuesday's win.
“I really don't care who scores as long as we're scoring,” Coach Guiot added. “If we have a kid that has to score 50 points and we win, that's great, but obviously the more balanced you are, the tougher you are to guard. Tonight, we were far more balanced.”
In a losing effort, junior Sam Bird led his Tigers in scoring with 13 points.
Webb City welcomes in Branson for another COC showdown on Friday, while Willard travels to play Carthage on Friday in a battle of the Tigers.
Box Score
Webb City – 9 17 20 18 – 64
Willard – 10 5 10 14 – 39
Webb City – Zach Davidson 15, Payton Guiot 15, Trey Gibson 10, Tate Smith 9, Kaden Roy 9, Preston Ellis 4, Tyson Roderique 2
Willard – Sam Bird 13, Kenny Chambers 10, Kobe Holloman 6, Stone Jackson 6, Caiden Dalton 2, Riley Young 2
