By Jordan Burton
Webb City, Mo. — It hasn’t taken Jason Horn long to learn the ropes at Webb City.
It’s no secret that the Cardinals Football program makes the best second-half adjustments in Missouri and Horn has been learning a few things from legendary coach John Roderique.
After taking a 35-29 lead into the break, Webb City outscored Lamar 21-7 in the third quarter, helping the Cardinals to a 78-46 win in their season-opener Tuesday evening at the Cardinal Dome.
CLICK FOR LAMAR VS. WEBB CITY PHOTOS
“The first half we were dribbling too much and missing guys that were running ahead,” said Horn. “We started looking ahead and pitching it ahead in the second half. We talk every day in practice that the ball travels quicker in the air and I think you saw our guards pushing it up and it opened things up for us.”
Webb City scored the first six points of the second half, quickly grabbing a 41-29 advantage. That lead would stretch to 20, 54-34, on a bucket by senior Trey Gibson.
Gibson scored eight of his 14 points in the third quarter and his experience was key to Webb City extending its lead.
“Trey is a calming influence to everyone which is helpful because these guys are still adjusting,” said Horn. “These young guys have to get used to the speed of varsity basketball – a lot of them didn’t play last year.”
One of those young guys that Horn was referring to is 6-foot-1 freshman Terrel Kabala.
After an impressive football season, Kabala enters the winter as one of the top freshmen in Missouri and while his debut got off to a bit of slow start due to foul trouble, he finished with nine points and four blocks.
He was one of five Cardinals to score at least eight points.
“He can get to the rim, he handles the ball well and he can shoot it,” said Horn. “He has a chance to be special if he continues to work at it. He did a great job tonight.”
Lamar, in its first season under former Missouri Southern guard Tyler Ryerson, struggled for much of the first half due to its leading scorer – senior Sam Timmons – sitting for much of the half due to foul trouble.
Tuesday’s clash between two of Missouri’s best football programs didn’t go the way Ryerson and the Tigers had hoped, there is certainly a silver lining for Lamar as the team continues to shake off the rust from winning its sixth consecutive football state championship.
“You have to tip your hat to Webb City; they did a great job of slowing us down in transition and breaking our pressure,” said Ryerson.
“Big picture is that this is our eighth day together. We’ve had four practices and played four games. The lack of preparation is completely my fault. I would gladly trade those additional practices for the type of guys I have in that locker room. We didn’t show it tonight but we have a tremendous amount of athletic ability and heart. We just didn’t play very well tonight.”
Ian Moore and Trey Mooney led Lamar with 10 points each. Webb City received a game-high 19 points from Grant Ellis and Alex Pickett.
Webb City won a district championship last year before falling to Glendale in the Class 4 Sectional round. The Cardinals won 21 games but lost three All-COC players from that team.
Horn believes his team is flying under the radar right now because of those losses, but he and his team are eager to prove people wrong.
“A lot of people count these guys out because we lost a lot but we’ve got eight guys that are pretty skilled players and they’re hungry for their shot,” said Horn. “They’re in one of the best athletic programs in the state and regardless of the sport they want to uphold that tradition.”
Both teams will be in tournaments this weekend, with Lamar traveling to the Seneca Tournament and Webb City heading south of the boarder for the Arvest Hoopfest in Rogers.
Webb City 78, Lamar 46
Lamar 9-20-7-10 – 46
Webb City 18-17-21-22 – 78
Lamar (4-1) – Timmons 6, Mooney 10, McKarus 2, Hardman 2, Danner 4, Moore 10, Morey 3, Wilkerson 7, Bailey 2.
Webb City (1-0) – Nichols 8, Kabala 9, Ellis 19, Gaskill 5, Pickett 19, Berlin 4, Gibson 14.
