[wpbvideo id=’301851′]
By John Miller
Christian Bundy was a man among boys.
Facing a Glendale team with no player taller than 6-foot-2, the 6-foot-5 Bundy poured in 33 points and added 10 rebounds and two blocks in Nixa’s 84-67 win at Glendale High School on Tuesday night.
He made 13 of 16 shots and had a pair of dunks, including a one-handed jam midway through the fourth quarter that energized the Nixa student section.
“He’s fun to watch, fun to play with,” said Nixa guard Braeden Combs, who had 10 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and four steals in the win. “(Every time we throw it to him), we know we have a bucket coming.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Jordan Walton led Glendale with 23 points, and his junior cohort Monty Johal had 22.
Bundy dominated the smaller Falcons and, with his play, created opportunities for Nixa’s guards to make plays. Five different Eagles made 3-pointers on Tuesday thanks to the team’s quick ball-movement and unselfish play.
“I love my guards,” Bundy said. “They pull guys from everywhere, and it’s just usually me and someone else, and I’m one-on-one inside and it helps me score.”
Nixa had 21 assists on 32 field-goals and shot 59 percent from the floor (32 of 54). They made nine of 20 3s.
“I’m really proud of our players,” Nixa coach Jay Osborne said. “We had a good game plan, I thought. We executed it, and I thought we attacked the rim really well. That’s a good win.”
Nathan Elmer had 14 points and five assists. Seth Viebrock added seven points, seven assists, and three steals.
“I thought our kids knew where we were to look, and they executed,” Osborne said.
Nixa jumped the Falcons early, using a 16-4 first-quarter run to lead 23-7 after one. Glendale turned the ball over eight times in the first period. They finished with 17 turnovers on the night.
“We didn’t know the game started,” Glendale coach Brian McTague said. “They took it to us and did whatever they wanted to, and we didn’t do anything to fight back. We got what we deserved.”
Despite the rough start, Glendale hung around. They trailed by 10 at half and after three quarters.
“People that shoot the ball that well you just can’t ever put away,” Osborne said. “They’ve got some guys that are hard to guard.”
The Falcons got within seven points on three separate occasions but didn’t get any closer. Only four players scored for Glendale, but all four reached double-figures. Along with Walton and Johal, Dylan Metivier had 12 points and Jaxon Davis had 10.
Ultimately, the balance and size from Nixa was too much, but McTague didn’t make any excuses.
“We’ve got to go play,” he said. “We’re little. We can’t be little and not play hard. We’ve got to be the baddest sucker on the block if we’re going to have a chance to beat anybody with any kind of size and every high school team in America has size.”
Nixa 23 19 18 24 84
Glendale 7 25 18 17 67
Nixa: Bundy 33, Elmer 14, Combs 10, Bergmann 9, Bracker 8, Viebrock 7, Canady 3
Glendale: Walton 23, Johal 22, Metivier 12, Davis 10
