St. John Bosco’s high-flying transition attack took over in the 3rd place game of the Tournament of Champions on Saturday night.
The Braves got 22 points apiece from Tyler Dorsey and Isaac Hamilton and sent Nixa to a rare second straight loss, winning 73-63.
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“We expected to win,” said Nixa coach Jay Osborne. “But we faced a good team that’s athletic, real explosive and made us pay in transition. Our transition defense was not good enough.”
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“We expected to win,” said Nixa coach Jay Osborne. “But we faced a good team that’s athletic, real explosive and made us pay in transition. Our transition defense was not good enough.”
Nixa trailed 37-34 at halftime, but St. John Bosco was able to get easy baskets (i.e. dunks and layups) in transition to expand its lead in the second half. The Braves outscored Nixa 18-10 in the third quarter and led by double digits for most of the fourth.
Hamilton, a UTEP signee, was 9-for-13 from the field and dished out five assists.
Austin Ruder led Nixa with 22 points, and sophomore Jacob Ruder added 16 points and seven rebounds. The Eagles suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since Jan. 2011, when they also won their first game at the Tournament of Champions before losing the next two.
Nixa was playing its second straight game without star senior Jalen Norman, who suffered a knee injury in Thursday night’s win against Bullitt East. He’s expected to be out 3-4 weeks.
Osborne said beating Montverde Academy on Friday night would’ve been unlikely even with Norman.
“Tonight, I think he would’ve made a difference,” Osborne said. “Just having an extra athlete out there to help defend and rebound. But I thought our other guys stepped up and performed admirably.”
Osborne said Austin Ruder will have an examination on his left thumb Monday after spraining a ligament there Thursday night.
The Eagles return to the local slate next week, hosting the Nixa Invitational Jan. 24-26.
“We’ve got things we need to work on in practice,” Osborne said. “The good thing is we still have a chance to have a great season. This is a team that can win a state championship.”
St. John Bosco 19 18 18 18 --- 73
Nixa 17 17 10 19 --- 63
St. John Bosco – Isaac Hamilton 22, Tyler Dorsey 22, Devin Burleson 9, Darien Williams 8, Daniel Hamilton 6, Chuck Evans 3, Brian Nebo 3
Nixa – Austin Ruder 22, Jacob Ruder 16, Wes Middleton 8, Chris Bettis 7, Bryce Dulin 6, Chan Hocklander 4
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