Cabool High School was a busy place Monday with the beginning of the annual Cabool Holiday Tournament. Eight games took place.
A recap of the action is below.
Tuesday’s afternoon quarterfinals, with seeds in parenthesis, will feature: (1) Licking vs. (9) Plato at 3, (4) Winona vs. (5) Seymour at 4:30, (2) Thayer vs. (10) Cabool at 6 and (3) Mountain View-Birch Tree/Liberty vs. (6) Eminence at 7:30.
Consolation games begin at 9 a.m.
Winona 72, Norwood 66
The Norwood Pirates nearly gave the 2016 Cabool Holiday Tournament its first upset of the day.
The Pirates battled back from a 20-point deficit in the third quarter to make things interesting late in the fourth quarter against No. 4 seed Winona.
“We don’t have any seniors on the team, so we’re definitely learning in those moments on how to finish a game,” said Winona coach Steve Voyles. “We got a long way to go, but I like our potential. We’ve got a lot of good kids and we’re getting better every day.”
“I didn’t love some of the shots we took today honestly, especially down the stretch,” Voyles said. “We had injury issues and foul trouble, but overall, we’ve got to work on our shot selection.”
Norwood, the No. 13 seed in the tournament, closed to within four points (61-57) of Winona with four minutes remaining following a three-point play by Hunter Gray.
Three baskets from Brendon Simpson on Winona’s next three possessions helped the Wildcats (7-1 overall) seal the 72-66 victory.
“(Brendon) is a captain and he leads by example,” Voyles said. “Every time in practices, when we needed something to go better or pick up the energy, he’s been that guy. That’s the reason he’s the captain of the squad and today he proved it on the court. Every time in preseason practice or early in the season, when we needed something to go right, he’s been that guy.
Gray, a sophomore, led all players with 35 points. Younger brother, and freshman, Hesston Gray added 16 points. The duo put in some extra work before the game, earning the praise of Pirates coach Shane Chadwell.
“I come to the gym (on Christmas) and they (Gray brothers) had found their way into the gym to shoot,” Chadwell said. “That’s all I ask for. They want to get better and they want to be coached. We’re just a few missing links away. We’ve got a bright future for us.”
The Pirates also got as close as seven (70-63) with just over one minute remaining, then five (71-66) in the final 30 seconds after a 3-pointer by Gray. Norwood drops to 1-7 overall.
“I never question these guys’ effort. They give me 100 percent every night,” Chadwell said. “A lot of nights, we don’t have the best basketball players on the floor. But the kids give me 110 percent and that’s all I ask for. Being a young team you can build on that. We’re just trying to break a few bad habits we had as young players.
“We’re a freshmen-sophomore team mostly. We’re pretty young but have some things to build on.”
Winona 22 19 17 14 — 72
Norwood 12 17 18 19 — 66
Norwood – Hunter Gray 35, Hesston Gray 16, A.J. Barnes 8, Mason Sawyers 4, Seth Bradshaw 3
Winona – Aaron Walker 19, Brendon Simpson 16, Zach Neal 13, Nick McBride 12, Dylan Teague 10, Chris Sandoval 2
Cabool 57, Gainesville 34
Those enticing perimeter shots weren’t falling for Cabool in this game. Thankfully for the Bulldogs, their defense backed them up.
Cabool, the No. 10 seed in the tournament, overcame a second-quarter field goal drought with a strong second half to knock off No. 7 seed Gainesville, 57-34.
PHOTOS: CABOOL VS. GAINESVILLE
Cabool led 19-12 at halftime, despite no field goals and three total points in the second quarter.
“It wasn’t bad shots; shots just weren’t falling for us,” said Cabool coach Brad Shockley. “We finally stepped up and made some inside shots. That had been hurting us early – we weren’t getting a lot of buckets inside the paint. Bailey Williams, I thought, was really the difference in the second half. He decided he wanted to score inside.”
The offense picked up for Cabool in the second half, where it scored 38 points. Cabool out-scored Gainesville 23-10 in a decisive fourth quarter.
Junior Brett VonAllmen led a balanced Cabool team with 12 points. Colton Hensley and Bailey Williams scored 11 apiece for Cabool, which improved to 5-1 overall. Its lone loss was 91-83 at home to Cabool.
Shockley said this season’s Cabool team could average around 25 3-point attempts per game. Monday against Gainesville, Cabool only made six of 23 3-point attempts, Shockley said.
“I have three kids that I tell them, ‘I don’t want you to look at me. If you feel like you want to shoot the ball, I want you to shoot it,’” he said. “I want to give free rein to them. We’re going to put up 30 3s a game and feel good about it. Typically, we shoot it better than we did tonight. We kind of live and die by it. What I liked was, when 3s weren’t going in, we didn’t get lazy on defense.
Gainesville fell to 4-5 overall. Brandon Poe scored a team-high 10 points. The final score marked the third straight game where Gainesville failed to reach the 40-point mark.
“That’s kind of where we’ve been at all year. That (final) score and everything… Our struggles right now are trying to put the ball in the basket,” said Gainesville coach Matt Powell. “It’s just that way.
“I think we’re getting good shots. I think we’re playing well on defense. It’s just a matter of executing. We might throw the ball away on a 2-on-1, trying to make the right play. Sometimes we don’t execute, or don’t make a four-footer, or force a 3. As long as they try to make the right play, that’s all I can ask. We’re all a little frustrated right now.”
Gainesville 8 4 12 10 — 34
Cabool 16 3 15 23 — 57
Gainesville – Brandon Poe 10, Garrett Morgan 7, Jeff Donley 6, Wyatt Wilson 6, Jaxon Britt 4, Brodie Chapman 1
Cabool – Brett VonAllmen 12, Colton Hensley 11, Bailey Williams 11, Jon Smith 8, Jordan Primanzon 6, Caleb Manning 3, Titus Atkins 2, Logan Miller 2, Clayton Reese 2
Plato 57, Crocker 51
Some late pressure defense helped Plato avenge an earlier loss to Frisco County League foe Crocker.
Trailing 49-47 with five minutes remaining, Plato scored seven of the game’s next seven points to take the lead for good. Senior guard Wesley Wilson converted a pair of Crocker turnovers into layups during the decisive run.
“There was a stretch there where we actually played some defense and ran some people into traps,” said Plato coach Rick Supancic. “That’s what bailed us out.”
Wilson scored 15, but it was freshman post Grady Todd who led No. 9 seed Plato in scoring with a game-high 21.
“A lot of times, a freshman player can come in and make an impact, but very seldom is in it on the inside,” Supancic said. “He’s been doing that all year so far. He’s got a good basketball build and good footwork.”
Blake Neuman scored 18 to lead Crocker, the No. 8 seed. Nathaniel Combs and Adam Shockley had 11 points apiece for the Lions.
Crocker beat Plato in double overtime, 64-61, at the Frisco League Tournament in early December.
“We didn’t shoot the ball real well today,” Supancic said. “We need to start knocking down some shots because our inside game is pretty good. But it’s not very good when everyone’s sagging inside on our bigs.”
Plato 14 14 17 12 — 57
Crocker 18 13 11 9 — 51
Plato – Grady Todd 21, Wesley Wilson 15, Jacob Supancic 9, Caden Wyatt 8, Ty Humphrey 4,
Crocker – Blake Neuman 18, Nathaniel Combs 11, Adam Shockley 11, Ethyn Boorom 5, Drayke Hair 2, Kaegan Hatton 2, Dillon Porter 2
Eminence 64, Dora 40
No. 6 seed Eminence led from start to finish against an undermanned Dora Falcons squad.
Sophomore Grant Dyer scored a game-high 19 for the Redwings and junior Ethan Drake added 15 points. Eminence led 21-7 after the first quarter and 36-13 at halftime.
The Redwings put on a first-half clinic of floor spacing and passing en route to the 23-point halftime lead.
“We try to stress the extra pass… pass up the good (shot) to get a great (shot),” said Eminence coach Pete McBride. “They did that, and they made (shots). That always helps. Second half, we came out and didn’t do that quite as much. But I was very pleased with the first half.”
It was another game for Eminence to adjust to life without 6’6” sophomore post Trent McBride, who suffered a broken foot Dec. 8 against Mountain View-Birch Tree/Liberty. He had tallied around 32 points and 10 rebounds in that game before suffering the injury in the final few minutes.
Eminence gave Class 2 No. 4-ranked Bismarck a big scare at home last week in a 73-66 loss.
“With Trent out, we change,” McBride said. “We’re a little bit more up-tempo and probably rely on the 3-pointer a little bit more. We try to space the floor and cut since we don’t have a regular post player in the paint. We’re different, but we’ve got good players. We’re just learning to play without him.”
Brent McKemie scored 13 to lead Dora, the No. 11 seed, and Austin White added 10 points.
Dora dressed only six players for the game and listed seven players total on its roster.
Dora 7 6 13 14 — 40
Eminence 21 15 13 15 — 64
Dora – Brent McKemie 13, Austin White 10, Kaleb Harris 8, Davin Hambelton 6, Tanner Hoover 4
Eminence – Grant Dyer 19, Ethan Drake 15, Wade Dyer 9, Kyndal Copeland 8, Reece Parrish 8, Robert Keeling 4, Landen Matteson 1
Licking 63, Summersville 20
Top seed Licking opened the Cabool Holiday Tournament with a lopsided win over Summersville in.
The Wildcats (9-0 overall, No. 2 in Class 3 state poll) got 18 points from Brady Smith, 17 points from Nathan Wilson and were able to play their reserves extended minutes with the game out of hand.
PHOTOS: SUMMERSVILLE VS. LICKING
Summersville only made one field goal in the first half and was held without a point in the second quarter. Dawson Austin scored nine to lead Summersville.
Summersville 5 0 10 5 — 20
Licking 17 17 16 13 — 63
Summersville –Dawson Austin 9, Crocket Parham 5, Christian Gaston 3, Dakota Shockley 2 Patrick Hawkins
Licking – Brady Smith 18, Nathan Wilson 17, G.T. Nicholson 6, Sean Loughridge 5, Clabe Sullins 5, Tristen Morelan 5, Terance Hale 4, Michael Milhizer 3
Seymour 53, Houston 28
Seymour senior Cy Yates scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to help the Tigers defeat Houston in the 5-12 matchup.
Yates was the only Seymour player in double figures. Brady Brooke and Brian Pearce each scored seven, and Justin Herion added six points.
Seymour (7-2 overall) held Houston to single digits in all four quarters. Senior Lucas Kelley accounted for 18 of Houston’s 28 points.
Houston 5 5 9 9 — 28
Seymour 12 11 13 17 — 53
Houston – Lucas Kelley 18, Cameron Root 7, Clayton Moore 2, Ty McCloud 1
Seymour – Cy Yates 24, Brady Brooke 7, Brian Pearce 7, Justin Herion 6, Brock Scott 4, Eric Helms 3, Keaton Owens 2
Thayer 62, Couch 35
No. 2 seed Thayer had some first-half struggles with 15-seed Couch, but ultimately put away the Indians for a 62-35 victory.
The two Oregon County schools battled back and forth in a tight first half, with Couch only trailing 14-12 after one quarter.
The Bobcats limited Couch to six points in the second quarter and led 30-18 at halftime. Thayer again held Couch to six points in the fourth quarter.
Thayer had four players score in double figures, led by Jalen Andrews with 17 and Kobe Meyer with 15. Jordan Williams had 9 points and Justin Ray 8 points for Couch.
Couch 12 6 11 6 — 35
Thayer 14 16 14 18 — 62
Couch – Jordan Williams 9, Justin Ray 8, Matt Brown 7, Colby Patterson 6, Cole Neel 3, Shawn Lowery 2,
Thayer – Jalen Andrews 17, Kobe Meyer 15, Ayden Stone 13, Zyman Langley 11, Dagen Jones 6
Liberty 70, Bakersfield 27
Liberty scored the game’s first 14 points and cruised to a lopsided victory in the 3-14 matchup.
The Eagles by 19 after the first quarter and by 29 at halftime.
PHOTOS: LIBERTY VS. BAKERSFIELD
Shalin Stout led four Liberty players in double figures with 15 points. Josh Pruett scored 13.
Liberty limited Bakersfield to just four points in the first and fourth quarters.
Hunter Bentley and Doug Tefft each scored 10 to lead Bakersfield.
Bakersfield 4 11 8 4 — 27
Liberty 23 21 20 6 — 70
Bakersfield – Hunter Bentley 10, Doug Tefft 10, Reece Anstine 2, Cole Summers 2, Brady Ingalsbe 2, Nathan Scott 1
Liberty – Shalin Stout 15, Josh Pruett 13, Brenton Bush 13, Devin Hedden 12, Mathew Coatney 7, Brodyn Kenaga 6, Andrew Holden 3, Koel Orchard 2
