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The final score doesn’t show it, but Neosho had Republic on the ropes more than once Tuesday night.
But, a barrage of 3-pointers for the Tigers and turnovers for the Wildcats led to an 81-60 victory for Republic in the Central Ozark Conference contest.
“We played with a lot more intensity tonight then we did Friday,” Neosho coach Ben Ponce said. “I was very happy with how we scored the ball tonight. We had a couple of guys in double digits and we did a good job finding open guys.”
After a rough first quarter, Neosho hit its stride. The Wildcats scored 20 points in the second quarter to stay within striking distance.
With 4:27 left in the second quarter, Ethan Murray launched a long 3-pointer from the right elbow and found the bottom of the net, sending the crowd into a frenzy. With that basket, Murray hit 1,000 points for his Neosho High School career.
“That’s just the result of a lot of work that he has put in,” Ponce said. “He deserves all of the accolades on that. He had a good night shooting again tonight and did a lot of good things on offense. I couldn’t be prouder of him tonight. To do that in two and a half years is quite a feat.”
Republic took a 39-28 lead into the locker room at halftime, largely on the strength of six first half 3-pointers.
In the third quarter, Neosho got as close as five points. That’s when the turnover bug started to bite. Neosho had back-to-back turnovers after getting within five points and Republic turned both into treys on the other end of the floor.
“The only thing on the offensive end was we didn’t value the ball enough,” Ponce said. “We had way too many turnovers. That gave Republic easy opportunities and in my opinion, that’s the difference in the game.”
On three different occasions, Neosho got within six points of Republic in the second half. And on all of those occasions, the Wildcats turned the ball over and allowed the Tigers to extend the lead again.
For Neosho, Murray led the way with 31 points.
A pleasant surprise over the last week for Neosho has been junior forward Logan davidson. He finished the game against Republic with 14 points and six rebounds. He also blocked seven shots on the defensive end. The junior has blocked 12 shots in the last two games for Neosho.
The final score doesn’t show it, but Neosho had Republic on the ropes more than once Tuesday night.
But, a barrage of 3-pointers for the Tigers and turnovers for the Wildcats led to an 81-60 victory for Republic in the Central Ozark Conference contest.
“We played with a lot more intensity tonight then we did Friday,” Neosho coach Ben Ponce said. “I was very happy with how we scored the ball tonight. We had a couple of guys in double digits and we did a good job finding open guys.”
After a rough first quarter, Neosho hit its stride. The Wildcats scored 20 points in the second quarter to stay within striking distance.
With 4:27 left in the second quarter, Ethan Murray launched a long 3-pointer from the right elbow and found the bottom of the net, sending the crowd into a frenzy. With that basket, Murray hit 1,000 points for his Neosho High School career.
“That’s just the result of a lot of work that he has put in,” Ponce said. “He deserves all of the accolades on that. He had a good night shooting again tonight and did a lot of good things on offense. I couldn’t be prouder of him tonight. To do that in two and a half years is quite a feat.”
Republic took a 39-28 lead into the locker room at halftime, largely on the strength of six first half 3-pointers.
In the third quarter, Neosho got as close as five points. That’s when the turnover bug started to bite. Neosho had back-to-back turnovers after getting within five points and Republic turned both into treys on the other end of the floor.
“The only thing on the offensive end was we didn’t value the ball enough,” Ponce said. “We had way too many turnovers. That gave Republic easy opportunities and in my opinion, that’s the difference in the game.”
On three different occasions, Neosho got within six points of Republic in the second half. And on all of those occasions, the Wildcats turned the ball over and allowed the Tigers to extend the lead again.
For Neosho, Murray led the way with 31 points.
A pleasant surprise over the last week for Neosho has been junior forward Logan davidson. He finished the game against Republic with 14 points and six rebounds. He also blocked seven shots on the defensive end. The junior has blocked 12 shots in the last two games for Neosho.
“I’m not sure what’s gotten into him,” Ponce said. “The light just kind of clicked on and he realized what kind of a player he can be. He can affect the floor on both ends. I am proud of how much tougher he’s gotten. He came after one his fouls and I asked what happened and he said ‘I threw him to the ground,’ and I asked why and he said ‘he kept grabbing my jersey and holding me all night and I finally had enough of it.’ So, I like that he’s getting that edge. I think he can help us hit our stride late.”
Other scorers for Neosho were Dustin Flory with nine and Tyrell Hembree and Preston Johnson with three each.
Neosho will face Ozark on the road Friday night.
