For a Texas transplant, Ozark High School senior Clayton Engel sure looks right at home.
Especially on homecoming Friday night, when he not only delivered on the court but also delivered an appropriate commentary in front of a notepad and pen.
“We just had an aggressive mindset – strike first, and share and shoot it,” Engel said after the Ozark Tigers took down the Central Ozark Conference’s only unbeaten, the Republic Tigers, with suffocating defense and a pretty savvy bench.
Naturally, the 74-51 final at Ozark High School raised the year-long question about Ozark – can it sustain consistency? – on a night when coach Mark Schweitzer’s club raced to a 25-point advantage in the opening half, with Engel scoring eight of his team-high 13 points.
Put it this way, Ozark scored on 16 of its 23 first-half possessions and frustrated Republic from the start in winning the opening tip and the game. Ozark applied four different defenses, particularly a press between the 3-point lines and a 2-3 zone in the half court that choked off Republic’s usual lifeline along the perimeter.
There were 6-foot-6 senior Collin Bottoms and 6-4 Peyton Osborn disrupting shots – and combining for four blocks – while Ozark got 13 points overall from Kyland Hewett-Newbill and 12 from sophomore Quinn Nelson, who came off the bench and carpet-bombed with four 3-pointers, including three late in the second quarter.
The result? Republic scored on only six of 26 first-half possessions.
“It says a lot about our kids and how we can play,” Schweitzer said. “We just have to be more consistent with it. But that’s what everyone’s kind of said about us all year – which is, ‘Which Ozark Tiger team is going to show up?’ … We dropped two conference games this week, and so we had to look for something to challenge them with. And I was beginning to be afraid that everyone thought no one taught defense around here. So we focused on that.”
Said Republic coach Trevyor Fisher, “They just took it to us right from the start, and we didn’t react to it very well. We just didn’t match their intensity.”
The win improved Ozark to 17-7 overall, 3-3 in the COC in a year when the team has suffered close losses to Kickapoo and at rival Nixa.
Bottoms is the anchor inside and scored 10 points. And, with Engel playing in a groove, as he did Friday night, Ozark has something –perhaps a team that can do some damage when the Class 5 postseason curtain rises in a couple of weeks.
You see, Engel clearly provides Ozark with an interesting No. 4 forward who can drive, pull-up but also muscle inside thanks to a chiseled frame.
He did not start in Tuesday’s loss at Nixa but opened Friday with assertiveness, taking a dribble around the left elbow and pulling up for the game’s first successful jumper. He also had the fitting ending, holding the basketball as the final seconds ticked off.
For him, he downplayed his night. But his performance suggested he has found a comfort zone since moving in from Tyler, Texas about two years ago, when his dad landed a job with a local hospital. The family has roots here.
“As a team, we were kind of tired of being up and down,” Engel said. “I don’t really know how well I’ve played (lately). But coach says that around this time of year teams break down or can bond together. We’ve really worked hard in practice. We’re trying to get on an uphill climb and get ready for districts.”
Schweitzer said Engel has improved over the year.
“Clayton’s had a great year for us,” Schweitzer said. “He was on the varsity bench last year and kind of took everything in and got ready for his senior year. He’s made the most of it. He stepped up in a big way. … When he plays well, we traditionally play well.”
Ozark’s bench played well, too. Nelson was a case in point as he proved to be an assassin from the perimeter. A rapid-fire sequence of 3-pointers from him helped Ozark boost its lead to 25-10 at the 5:16 mark of the second quarter.
Nelson said he found a groove during pregame warm-ups.
“And we’re at home. Our student section came out and helped us a lot,” Nelson said. “It was just a great atmosphere.”
Republic had its chances to make a game of it right after halftime – and nearly succeeded, forcing turnovers on Ozark’s first four possessions. Republic pulled within 37-22 after Tristan Oller’s two buckets and a Treydon Rackley 3-pointer.
However, Ozark quickly regrouped.
“When you dig a hole against a team like them, it’s hard to get over the hump,” Fisher said. “We just didn’t sustain our defensive effort for long.”
Oller scored a team-high 15 points for Republic (19-5, 5-1 COC), whose a Tuesday regular-season finale at Branson will decide the COC champion. But that’s only after Republic plays host to Waynesville in a make-up game Monday night.
Meanwhile, Ozark plays host to Carthage on Tuesday and finishes the regular-season Thursday at Bolivar.
Ozark 74, Republic 51
Republic 7 8 13 23 – 51
Ozark 17 20 15 22 – 74
Republic: Treydon Rackley 11, Devon Ward 10, Tristan Oller 15, Mitchell Coiner 9, Ty Stevens 3, Tyler Phillips 2, Doke 1.
Ozark: Curt Gracey 2, Quinn Nelson 12, Clayton Engel 13, Kyland Hewett-Newbill 12, Parker Hanks 8, Peyton Osborn 6, Clayton Bottoms 10, Carter Burgess 2.
