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By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
BOLIVAR – Nixa coach Jay Osborne is retiring at the end of the season — which is growing closer by the minute — and senior Colin Ruffin knew the Eagles still owed him a parting gift.
“It’s his last season,” Ruffin said. “We didn’t get the Blue & Gold Tournament championship. We didn’t get the (Nixa Invitational Tournament). We just need something at least.”
They sure found something on Saturday.
Ruffin scored 21 points, leading three Eagles in double-figures, as Nixa punched its ticket to the Class 6 Final Four with a 68-44 drubbing of Lee’s Summit West at the Meyer Wellness Center.
Jaret Nelson and Kael Combs added 15 apiece for the Eagles, who are back in the state semifinals for the first time since finishing as the state runner-up during the 2011-12 season.
Ranked fourth in the state, the Eagles (27-3) will face top-ranked Staley (26-4) at 6 p.m. Thursday at JQH Arena for the right to play for their first state title since Osborne led them to one in 1999.
It will be the fifth Final Four appearance in the veteran coach’s basketball career.
Osborne played in one while growing up in Nickerson, Kansas, and has now coached four Nixa teams to the semifinals in his 30 seasons at the school. The 2002 team placed third.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Several former Nixa players were in attendance at Saturday’s quarterfinal, with Osborne saying their presence made an already emotional game that much more significant.
“I just want these guys to succeed,” he said. “I want this team and our program to succeed. I want them to experience what our coaching staff has experienced and what other players have experienced. Going to the Final Four. Playing for a state title. I want that for them. They’re going to have a chance to do that.”
After winning six district titles in the past nine years, but falling short each time, the Eagles could hardly wait to celebrate. Players were handed commemorative Final Four T-shirts after the game.
“I feel like I could probably go up and touch the top of the backboard right now,” Ruffin said. “So much adrenaline is going off in me right now. I’m just happy for my team and I’m excited for the city.”
Lee’s Summit West (14-14) entered Saturday’s quarterfinal on a six-game win streak.
The Titans were 8-13 on the morning of February 15 before rattling off three straight wins to end the regular season. They added three playoff upsets to win the District 6 title as the No. 5 seed.
But Nixa raced out to a 19-7 lead in the first quarter – highlighted by a Ruffin-to-Combs alley-oop – and led by eight at halftime. With some defensive adjustments, Nixa stretched that to 17 points by the end of the third quarter and pulled away even farther in the fourth.
“We ran them off the three-point line,” Osborne said. “We knew who their best players were. We shared the ball well. We finally got the ball to Nelson inside. His first eight touches, he probably scored seven buckets. We finally got to where their weak spot was in their defense.”
Ruffin shot 10-of-11 from the free-throw line, all of them coming in the second half. Jordyn Turner finished with nine points, as Nixa just missed having a fourth player in double figures.
“I definitely think we played with a chip on our shoulder, just because of all of the losses we’ve took over the past couple of seasons,” Ruffin said. “We’re pretty hungry for this state championship.”
The lone blemish on the night came midway through the fourth quarter. With Nixa leading by 19, referees broke up a kerfuffle that resulted in at least one technical foul being issued.
“You had some asphalt stuff going on out here and some streetball stuff,” Osborne said. “Which, you know, a little bit of that is OK. A lot of it is not. We’ll try to get that cleaned up. It’s an emotional game. It was physical tonight. Tempers flare. It’s a physical, emotional game. It’s a contact sport. We’ll have to make some adjustments.”
At this stage of the season, Osborne said the best thing the Eagles can do is stay healthy.
With extended layoffs between the district championships and quarterfinals – and now the quarterfinals to the Final Four – practices are much less physically taxing. The goal is to avoid sprained ankles, broken fingers or anything that might prevent the team from being at full strength.
“It’s so hard to get here,” Osborne said. “It’s so hard to achieve at this level in this game. It feels good to be playing another week.”
And after falling short in both the Blue & Gold and NIT, the Eagles are excited to have a chance to celebrate an even bigger tournament title with their coach.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime moment,” Combs said. “I’m just soaking it up right now, but I know we’ve got a couple of days. We have to regroup. We have to have really good practices. I’m really excited right now.”
