Jay Osborne flashed a brief smile after receiving an envelope from Joplin athletic director Jeff Starkweather.
It’s the same envelope Osborne has received five times in the last seven years, but it admittedly never gets old for the legendary Nixa coach. For him, it’s even better than the plaque that his Eagles added to their growing collection following Thursday’s 64-41 win over rival Republic in the Class 5 – District 12 championship game.
“Winning districts never gets old; it keeps the blood going and makes you coach every year,” said Osborne. “Getting this envelope is pretty special, especially when you beat a team like Republic that had a tremendous season. We knew we had to play well.”
Playing well was a must after Republic knocked off Nixa, 56-50, on Feb. 12 snapping the Eagles’ 10-game winning streak against Republic. In that game the Tigers’ Ty Stevens hit five 3s in the game’s first 13 minutes, giving RepMo a 29-16 lead in the second quarter and forcing Nixa out of it’s standard 2-3 zone.
Osborne wanted his Eagles to avoid that kind of start on Thursday and Nixa did just that by scoring the game’s first seven points. Republic managed just one field goal in the game’s first eight minutes as the Eagles built a 16-2 lead.
“Tonight it was a matter of getting off to a good start,” said Osborne. “They jumped on us the first time and they play such a good, structured offense that you can’t get behind them. Our whole focus over the last few days was getting the lead and keeping the lead, which keeps us in our zone. Our zone was outstanding tonight.”
Nixa led 29-13 going into the half with much of that damage coming from the twin tower duo of 6-foot-7 senior Chase Allen and 6-foot-6 junior Christian Bundy, who combined to equal Republic’s 13 first-half points.
Allen would finish with 14 points while Bundy added 10. Both also took turns throwing down energy-injecting dunks.
“When we are scoring inside we are tough to beat,” said Osborne. “We have some dry spells and all year we’ve been inconsistent with our offense but tonight we were clicking and didn’t hit many dry spots. When we are getting good looks we’re hard to stop.”
Nixa used a 9-5 spurt to start the second half to build a 38-18 lead following an and-one dunk by Allen. But, Republic rallied with six straight points to cut the deficit to 14, 38-24, within 90 seconds. Republic would get as close as 13, 45-32, but a pair of 3s by Evan Bergmann helped keep the Tigers at bay.
Republic also didn’t have an answer for Nixa point guard Seth Viebrock.
The shifty junior was unflappable as Republic repeatedly tried to trap him to get back in the game, but more often than not Viebrock was able to beat the pressure and make the Tigers pay for it on the back end by setting up teammates or getting fouled.
He was also money at down the stretch at the foul line, going 10-for-10 and scoring a team-high 15 points.
“We’ve had so many good point guards at Nixa, even dating back to guys like Zack Towe, but when you’ve got a point guard that can split the trap, split the press, low dribble and go score it’s hard to pressure you,” said Osborne. “Seth was playing well tonight and when he does that and he’s in control of his ball handling we are hard to press.”
Republic received a game-high 21 points from junior Treydon Rackley, 19 of which came in the second half. Tristian Ollar added 10 for the Tigers.
Now Nixa will await the winner of Class 5 – District 11 between Kickapoo and Ozark.
The Eagles beat Christian County rival Ozark twice during the regular season, a 61-52 decision in the Houlihan’s Fighting Irish Invitational championship and 61-58 in a typical COC Large showdown less than a month ago.
Kickapoo blasted Nixa 74-43 on Jan. 22.
The Chiefs haven’t lost a game against a Missouri opponent this year and haven’t dropped a game since Jan. 15, winning 12 straight games.
Osborne concedes that Kickapoo is the favorite in the area to make a trip to Columbia, but before he has to worry about either team, he’s looking forward to being a basketball fan at Friday night’s game in Branson.
“We’ll enjoy this tonight and tomorrow, and then we’ll start work on whoever we need to,” said Osborne. “Kickapoo is going to be the favorite and if we play them it’ll be a huge challenge for us. But I’ve seen some strange things happen in 32 minutes; just don’t count anyone out. I’m sure Ozark will give them a good game. It’ll be nice to relax, drink a coke or whatever, and enjoy watching the game.”
His senior captain agrees… well kind of.
Allen remembers watching Blue Springs South steal a 54-52 win from Nixa in last March’s quarterfinals on its way to a state championship. He was also there as a sophomore when Chris Kendrix exploded to lead Willard past his Eagles, 40-37, in Sectionals.
He and Nixa are eager to start another trek towards Columbia.
“I hope with this win that we showed people that we are real contenders,” said Allen. “We’re playing at our best right now and this is exactly when we need to be playing it. We are really looking forward to seeing either Kickapoo or Ozark and I know it’s hard to beat a team three times. Bring it on, we’re ready to play and we’ll just give it our best.”
Kickapoo will play the Kickapoo/Ozark winner on Mar. 9 at 7:45 p.m. at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
Nixa 64, Republic 41
Nixa 16-13-13-22 – 64
Republic 2-11-13-15 – 41
Nixa (23-5) – Viebrock 15, Allen 14, Bundy 10, Bergmann 10, Flood 9, Dent 2, Bacon 2, Bracker 2.
Republic (21-7) – Rackley 21, Ollar 10, Stevens 6, Singley 2, Doke 2.
