Nixa coach Jay Osborne knew his team faced a serious mismatch against Montverde Academy on Friday night.
On the inside, Montverde Academy features 6-foot-8 West Virginia signee Devin Williams and the 6-foot-11 Dakari Johnson, who’s verbally committed to Kentucky.
Then, causing havoc on the perimeter is Florida-bound guard Kasey Hill.
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It would be Hill causing the most problems when the game was still somewhat close in the first half. He lit up Nixa for 20 points on 7-for-8 shooting in the first two quarters as Montverde Academy won 78-61.
“It’s pick your poison against them,” Osborne said. “We can’t match up against a team with that type of size and those types of players.”
Hill had 14 points in the first quarter alone, nine coming from behind the arc. He finished with 22 points.
Montverde Academy coach Kevin Boyle said Hill is anything but a shoot-first type of guard.
“Kasey’s a very unselfish player,” Boyle said. “He came out in the second half and wasn’t trying to score 30 points. He wants to get his teammates involved. He doesn’t care if he gets shot.”
Johnson added 18 points and seven rebounds. Nixa trailed 22-9 after the first quarter and by 17 points at halftime.
Montverde Academy’s lead grew to over 20 points in the second half before Nixa’s reserves cut into the deficit late in the fourth quarter.
“(Boyle) was pretty nice to us. He played his backups most of the second half,” Osborne said. “That’s a great team, one of the best in the country. It could’ve been a lot worse.”
Nixa finished with 15 turnovers, 11 occurring in the first half.
“I was frustrated with the turnovers we had,” Osborne said. “We didn’t handle their pressure very well and didn’t make good passes. A lot of that had to do with their quickness.”
The Eagles finished 8-for-25 from 3-point range after making just 1 of 11 attempts from that distance in the first half.
Missouri State signee Austin Ruder scored 19 points, 16 coming in the second half. Sophomore post Jacob Ruder had 11 points and five rebounds.
Nixa plays St. John Bosco in the third place game at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Montverde Academy takes on Paul VI for the championship at 8 p.m.
Montverde Academy 78, Nixa 61
Montverde Academy 22 18 25 13 --- 78
Nixa 9 14 18 20 --- 61
M.A. – Kasey Hill 22, Dakari Johnson 18, Robyn Missa 9, Jordan Caroline 8, Devin Williams 6, Miguel Cartegena 6, Jalyn Patterson 3, Justin Bibbs 2, Daniel Katuka 2, Nikita Zabotin 2
Nixa – Austin Ruder 19, Jacob Ruder 11, Athan Lummis 9, Bryce Dulin 8, Chan Hocklander 5, Chris Bettis 4, Carney Wilmes 3, Wes Middleton 2
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Sophomore Kevin Dorsey helped send the Paul VI Panthers to the title game of the 2013 Tournament of Champions. Trailing St. John Bosco by seven with three minutes to go, Paul VI rallied to tie the game then won 52-50 on Dorsey’s deep 2-point jumper at the buzzer.
St. John Bosco took a 49-42 lead on an alley-oop to Brian Nebo. But Paul VI rallied back, getting two treys from sophomore Marcus Derrickson to eventually tie the game 50-50 with 1:08 remaining.
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St. John Bosco trailed to hold for the final shot, but Daniel Hamilton was fouled with 18 seconds remaining. He would miss the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation and Paul VI grabbed the rebound.
As the final seconds ticked down, Dorsey took a kick-out pass and knocked down a deep 2-pointer from the right wing as the buzzer sounded.
Derrickson had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Paul VI. Isaac Hamilton scored 19 for St. John Bosco.
Paul VI 52, St. John Bosco 50
Paul VI 11 10 18 13 --- 52St. John Bosco 10 16 16 8 --- 50
Paul VI – Marcus Derrickson 17, Franklin Howard 10, Jamal Robinson 8, Quadree Smith 8, Kevin Dorsey 7, Evan Taylor 2
St. John Bosco – Isaac Hamilton 19, Daniel Hamilton 12, Brian Nebo 6, Darien Williams 6, Tyler Dorsey 5 Jason Dallas 2
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