By Brock Sisney (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
GRANBY — The East Newton Patriots and the Joplin Eagles were headed in opposite directions entering their showdown Thursday night at East Newton HS.
The Patriots came in with a 17-1 overall record and 11 straight victories, including unbeaten runs through the Neosho Holiday Classic and the Jay (Okla.) Tri-State Classic.
The Eagles stood at 10-6 overall after consecutive losses against Rogersville (83-59) and Kickapoo (89-69).
Both teams continued their overall trending direction — East Newton outscored Joplin 40-22 in the first and fourth quarters en route to a 66-50 victory Thursday night, bringing the Patriots’ overall record to 18-1 and their winning streak to 12.
The Patriots built a double-digit lead after their first basket of the second quarter on the strength of a pair of 7-0 runs, saw their lead reduced to 28-21 at halftime and the Eagles cut it down to five in the third, and then the home team used a 10-0 scoring blast late in the third and early in the fourth to extend their lead to 51-36.
The Patriots hit the Eagles with the first eight points of the fourth, scoring them in all of 1:21.
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“I thought we started the game well,” East Newton head coach Kyle Fields said. “I love our defensive intensity. I thought it was really good, holding them to 21 points at half. Just proud of our defensive effort, our guys dug in and we had some hard times getting shots to fall early. We didn’t shoot a great percentage first half, but there’s going to be nights like that. We’ve got to continue to stay the course and they’ll start falling.”
East Newton senior guard Lucas Kimbrough enjoyed a particularly strong night on both ends of the floor, scoring a game-high 21 points and guarding explosive Joplin guard Always Wright most of the night. Kimbrough especially finished strong, netting 12 of his points in the fourth.
Kimbrough picked up his fourth personal with 6 minutes, 4 seconds remaining in regulation and he stayed on the court the rest of the contest. In fact, during this closing stretch, he made one more basket and four consecutive late free throws.
“He was smart defensively (after his fourth personal) without fouling and moving his feet,” Fields said. “Offensively, he didn’t push the envelope too hard and he took what the defense gave him. He was still aggressive, though, and that’s tough. He did a great job at that.”
Kyson Lahman and sixth man Gabe Bergen each finished in double-digits for the Patriots — Lahman scored 10 of his 18 points in the first quarter and Bergen added 11 before fouling out on a controversial 50/50 block-charge call with 2:26 remaining.
Tanner Youngblood and Connor Killion added eight and six points, respectively, and Kelton Sorrell rounded out the Pats’ scoring with two.
“We’ve got a special team,” Fields said. “We can take advantage of mismatches and that helps us.”
East Newton returns to action Tuesday on the road against Big 8 West foe Cassville.
Wright led Joplin (10-7) with 16 points, Dante Washington provided a spark off the bench with 12, and All Wright added eight.
The Eagles return to Central Ozark Conference play Tuesday at home against Carthage, looking to end a three-game skid and get back on track down the home stretch.
