By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
ROGERSVILLE – If there is ever a time for a team to have good chemistry, the postseason is about as good a time as any.
The Logan-Rogersville Wildcats capitalized on that teamwork as they pulled away from the Neosho Wildcats for a 77-49 Class 5 District 11 championship victory on Wednesday night on their home floor.
Since Jonathan Dunn, a transfer from Hazelwood Central, joined Logan-Rogersville this semester, it has taken a little while for the team to gel. But now, the Wildcats seem to be hitting on all cylinders at the right time.
“We’ve been working on chemistry; it’s been getting better,” said Dunn, who led all scorers with 33 points. “They’re starting to get used to playing with me, and I’m starting to get used to playing with them. You see us carrying it over to how we play, so it’s been really good.”
And, it was really good as Logan-Rogersville approached halftime. Kanon Gipson lobbed a pass to Dunn who slammed it home – for one of his four dunks on the night – just ahead of the buzzer to give the Wildcats a 33-28 lead heading into the locker room.
“Our chemistry as a team’s growing, our chemistry together is growing,” Gipson said. “Just little plays like that can get the crowd fired up, gives everyone a little pep in their step and that’s what we need.”
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Logan-Rogersville, which improved to 20-5 overall, opened up the game with a 6-0 run, but Neosho (13-13) finally got on the board and rattled off seven straight points of its own to take a 9-8 lead early in the first quarter.
But, 15 first-half points from Dunn and 11 from Gipson helped L-R hold the slim lead at halftime.
“They shot it well,” L-R coach John Schaefer said of Neosho. “I thought both teams played with a lot of intensity early. I didn’t think we played real bad. They shot 60 percent in the first half, hit tough shots and just competed.
“That’s what you get this time of year. You get everybody’s best game. It’s win or go home, and you just try to prepare your kids for that; not to freak out. You’ve got to grind a little bit and get through it.”
The L-R Wildcats, who captured their fourth-straight district title Wednesday night, pounced on Neosho early in the third quarter by going on a 10-0 run to take a 43-28 lead within the first two minutes, and outscored Neosho 22-9 to take command of the game.
“We made some adjustments in the second half and tried to plug some of those holes that were causing us problems,” Schaefer said. “Once we did that, it gave us some separation and got some points and then we didn’t look back.”
A spark for L-R was senior Zach Bergmann, who added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats, including 12 of those points coming in the second half.
“He’s the heart of our team,” Schaefer said of Bergmann. “He’s probably the toughest kid we’ve got and he just he works his butt off. He had a bad start and missed a couple of easy baskets that made him not want to shoot it anymore. We were like, ‘that’s not an option.’”
Gipson, who had been struggling with his shot recently, hit four 3-pointers on the night – two of them from NBA range. He was glad to get his touch back, especially now.
“I was due for some shots,” said Gipson, who scored 14 points for L-R. “I felt good about today just warming up, everything felt good. This one means a lot to me. It’s on our home court. It’s my senior year and we’re not done yet.”
Neosho coach Zane Culp told his seniors he was proud of them and that they have done a lot for the Wildcats’ program.
“They led us to three district finals in a row and that’s never been done at Neosho,” Culp said. “And, I just told those sophomores who had been playing with them, ‘You guys can go do this, too, and make it even better if you put the work in.’”
Gipson added that there are several things the Wildcats can take into their sectional game next week.
“I think this was really good for our team,” Gipson said of the challenge. “I think we missed a lot of layups still and I’m only looking at the positive. We won by 30 but missed a ton of layups and didn’t shoot the ball too good.
“I think this is a really good message to everyone who’s left – we’re not messing around this year.”
Class 5 District 11
Championship
LOGAN-ROGERSVILLE 77, NEOSHO 49
NEOSHO 19-9-9-12—49
LOGAN-ROGERSVILLE 20-13-22-22—77
NEOSHO (13-13) – Chase Flynn 16, Brock Franklin 3, Landon Austin 13, Dalton Brodie 2, Isaiah Green 2, Carter Fenske 9, Kael Smith 4.
LOGAN-ROGERSVILLE (20-5) – JJ O’Neal 6, Jonathan Dunn 33, Max Goff 2, Kanon Gipson 14, Zach Bergmann 14, Curry Sutherland 8.
All-District team: Kanon Gipson, Logan-Rogersville; Landon Austin, Neosho; Pierce Harmon, McDonald County; Daniel Navarro, Monett; Jonathan Dunn, Logan-Rogersville; Chase Flynn, Neosho; Tyler Waterman; Zach Bergmann, Logan-Rogersville; Dalton Brodie, Neosho; Cole Martin, McDonald County.
Player of the Year: Kanon Gipson, Logan-Rogersville
Coach of the Year: John Schaefer, Logan-Rogersville
Up next: Class 5 sectionals – Logan-Rogersville vs. Webb City-Nevada (Class 5 District 12) winner at 6 p.m. March 9
