By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Two teams trying to find themselves in this young season clashed at Glendale High School on Tuesday night.
Nixa, which came in with a 1-4 record, graduated six seniors from last year’s squad and is fielding a young lineup. Glendale graduated its entire varsity roster from last season, but entered Tuesday night with a 4-1 record and a Van Horn Tournament title to open the season.
Nixa jumped out to an early 11-3 lead and closed the game with a couple of 5-0 runs to defeat the Falcons 85-69 in nonconference action.
A key to the Eagles’ early offense was junior guard Ace Akers, who opened the game with a 3-pointer from the wing on his way to 13 first-quarter points.
“We’ve got some good shooters,” Nixa coach Jay Osborne said, “and we have some good shooters who haven’t been shooting the ball well. It’s not all on them, but that’s a reason we haven’t had a whole lot of success. Making shots takes care of a lot of problems.
“We’ve got good shooters and we’ve got some kids inside who can score, so we’ve got a nice combo there and it’s just a matter of putting it all together.”
To look at Nixa on Tuesday night, you wouldn’t know the Eagles have been without junior point guard Josh Mason for three games.
“Josh’s been hurt for three games, which doesn’t help,” Osborne said. “We’re trying to run stuff without a true point guard and that’s put a kink in the armor.
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“I’m real pleased. This is a hard place for people to come in and win because (Glendale) plays well here, and they shoot the ball extremely well here. I thought we attacked the rim. I thought we took really good shots, for the most part, and I thought we were unselfish with the ball. This is a quality win for us. We needed something positive to happen.”
And, the Eagles definitely were unselfish Tuesday night with three players scoring in double figures, led by Akers’ 26 points, followed by Luke Roemen with 20 and Jason Jones with 16. A total of eight players got in the scoring column.
Glendale tied the game at 48 with 4:50 to go in the third quarter. But each time the Falcons would close the gap, Nixa would go on a 5-0 or 6-0 run to keep Glendale at bay.
“That’s something we haven’t been able to do lately is we haven’t been able to get key stops and haven’t been able to put together 6- or 8-0 runs, and we did that tonight,” Osborne said. “We finally got some separation from them.”
While Glendale isn’t necessarily a young team, it is an inexperienced team when it comes to varsity action. But coach Brian McTague was proud of his team’s fight each time Nixa would go on a run.
“We battled for the first three-and-a-half quarters… we just weren’t able to get over the hump,” McTague said. “Their kids made some big plays and tough shots and we weren’t able to answer at the other end.”
The Falcons had four players in double figures. Senior Winston Quinn scored a team-high 19 points, with junior Karter Lowry and freshman Carter Harrell adding 17 points apiece. Junior Jadon Gilpin chipped in with 11 points.
“Both (Carter and Karter) made shots, played their butts off and gave us a chance by scrapping and getting their hands on stuff,” McTague said. “They really kept us in it whenever we were on the verge of getting blown out early, and they were able to make enough shots and make enough plays to keep it close.
“I thought we kind of ran out gas once we got it tight. We made a couple of mistakes from just not being on the same page. It’s early in the season and we’re still working through some new guys in the varsity lineup and trying to figure each other out – player to player and coach to player and player to coach.”
And, like Glendale, Nixa is hoping things are starting to come together.
“A win like this can definitely help,” Osborne said. “We’ve got our first home game on Friday, which is going to help, and we’re excited about that. We’ve been on the road for five games. We’ve got guys making shots; we’ve got guys inside who can score. We’re kind of hard to match up and defend. This game feels a lot better tonight.”
In addition to the runs, the Eagles scored 22 points on free throws – going 22-for-26 from the line.
“We’re shooting 82 (percent) from the line this season – knock on wood – we’re shooting free throws well,” Osborne said. “If you look at our free-throw stats, you look at what we’ve shot and made, compared to our opponents, we should be 6-0 or 5-1. We’ve played a good schedule, and lost three games by a total of five points. No excuses…
“We’re still young, so there’s going to be a lot of growing pains for that. But I thought we matured quite a bit tonight. I was real impressed with our effort.”
NIXA 85, GLENDALE 69
NIXA – 25-21-15-24—85
GLENDALE – 19-21-12-17—69
NIXA (2-4) – Evan Long 3, Ace Akers 26, Jason Jones 16, Brandon Gordon 2, Luke Roemen 20, Isaiah Engleman 7, Kaleb Wofford 8, Carson Young 3.
GLENDALE (4-2) – Jordan Kerr 5, Winston Quinn 19, Carter Harrell 17, Jadon Gilpin 11, Karter Lowry 17.
Nixa B 65, Glendale B 55
