Nixa beats Catholic in Blue & Gold rematch

catholic-vs-nixa_37-2

By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)

Nixa players didn’t feel they gained redemption Friday, but the Eagles did gain a 56-53 Tournament of Champions victory versus Catholic.

It was a rematch of the teams’ Blue & Gold Tournament semifinal contest from three weeks ago that saw the Irish prevail 49-48.

“I don’t know if it was necessarily redemption,” Nixa forward Jaret Nelson said. “Like coach says, you don’t really get over (a loss). Yeah, it feels good. But should we have lost the first time? I don’t think so.”

“Kind of, kind of not,” Eagles guard Jordyn Turner said when asked if he felt redeemed. “I don’t really think so, honestly. I think we could have beat them by more than three (points).”

Nixa has endured free-throw woes in its two losses and the Eagles gave Catholic a shot to tie at the buzzer by missing two free throws with :21 remaining.

Nixa was only 8-of-15 at the foul line in the fourth quarter and finished 12-of-23 shooting free throws.

“When you don’t make free throws, it complicates everything,” Eagles coach Jay Osborne said. “You make free throws, everything goes smooth. Some guys think I’m not positive enough. We start shooting 75-80 percent from the free-throw line, I’ll be really positive. We start playing really well, like we’re capable of, I’ll smile.

“We’re struggling in some areas,” Osborne said. “For a coach, in mid-January to see your team struggle, I take that personal and my coaching staff takes that personal.”

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME

Nixa’s defensive effort was highlighted by minimizing Catholic guard Zach Howell’s scoring chances. Howell netted 18 points, but was limited to 10 field-goal attempts.

At the Blue & Gold Tournament, Howell scored 33 points versus Nixa.

The Eagles opted to have a defender face-guard Howell this time around.

“They definitely guarded me differently,” Howell said. “They had a box-and-one on me about half the game tonight. I was getting hounded all game. Last time, they manned up. It was a different look for us and we had to respond to it. We had to adjust.”

“If I’m a coach, I’m 100 percent going to face-guard Zach,” Catholic coach Jack Simpson said. “They were committed to him the whole night.”

Howell had just two points in the fourth quarter. Howell finished 6-of-10 from the field and was 3-of-7 on his 3-point attempts.

“He does a good job with his body getting open, he uses screens well and they do a good job getting him open,” Osborne said. “He’s a tough matchup. For the most part, we did a good job on him. Holding him to 18 is good. I thought if we held him under 25, we would win.”

Nixa held the upper hand down the stretch by holding the Irish to 3-of-10 shooting in the fourth quarter. The Eagles’ ball-handling was also a factor, with the winners committing only five turnovers. Point guard Colin Ruffin did not have a turnover.

Turner topped the Eagles with 16 points, Nelson contributed a dozen and Ruffin had 11. Kael Combs endured foul trouble while scoring eight points.

In addition to Howell’s 18 points, Catholic was in the contest the whole way by receiving 12 points from Liam O’Reilly and 10 from Quinn Roubal.

“We had guys step up and make plays,” Simpson said. “Quinn made some 3s, hats off to him. We had guys make plays, we just didn’t make enough plays.”

“They’ve got a good team. Give them credit, they battled us,’ Osborne said. “There was no shame losing to them a few weeks ago and there was no shame struggling against them again today. For some reason, they just battle us. They made shots and got to the rim. They were in attack mode and had us on our heels most of the night. It was kind of a frustrating game.”

“That’s two really good battles,” Sampson said. “I think we got better from playing them twice and I think they got better, too.”

Catholic’s two TOC losses have been by a combined eight points. Simpson is confident the Irish have more than proven themselves as a worthy fill-in for the tourney.

“Even after the Blue & Gold, because we lost to Kickapoo, people say it was a fluke that we beat (Nixa),” Simpson said. “You get on social media and see, ‘Why is Catholic in the Tournament Of Champions? They don’t deserve to be (there). I think the last two nights proved that we deserve to be there.”

Nixa will try to win two TOC games for the first time when the Eagles face Parkview Saturday in a fifth-place game. Catholic meets New Madrid County Central for seventh place.

Nixa 56, Catholic 53
CATHOLIC (53) — Roubal 4-6 0-0 10, O’Reilly 3-9 6-7 12, Howell 6-10 3-3 18, Lyon 4-8 0-0 8, Riley 1-2 1-2 3, Kruger 1-1 0-0 2, Mayse 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-37 10-12 53.
NIXA (56) — Ruffin 2-5 7-10 11, Turner 5-10 3-4 16, Combs 3-8 2-6 8, Bell 3-4 1-1 9, Nelson 5-8 2-6 12, Berry 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-36 15-27 56.
Catholic 12 12 18 11 – 53

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