By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
OZARK — Time will tell if Tuesday was the final Nixa-Ozark showdown of the Jay Osborne era.
If it was, the Eagles ensured the coach went out a winner.
Colin Ruffin scored a team-high 25 points — 17 of them during Nixa’s explosive third quarter — and three other players finished in double-figures as the Eagles pulled away in the second half and cruised to a 83-67 victory over their Central Ozark Conference and district archrivals.
It was yet another — and perhaps final — rivalry victory for Osborne, who has announced he plans to retire at the end of the current school year. His decorated 30-year run at Nixa includes wins in 19 of his past 23 games against Ozark, a dominant stretch dating back to February 2009.
“Thirty years battling the Evil Empire over here has been a lot of fun,” Osborne said. “I say that with all due respect. … To have the success we’ve had over here is a tribute to our kids, our players and our coaching staff. This is a good one. This is one I’ll remember. It’s the last time I’ll probably be in this gym coaching and it just feels good to play well. It’s a big win for us.”
The Eagles don’t currently have another game scheduled against Ozark, but they do share a district this year. That’s happened four other times since 2013, with each season featuring a postseason rematch between the Highway 14 rivals. With that history, it’s too early to definitively say if this was Osborne’s final victory over the Tigers or if there could be a chance for one more.
However, the Missouri State High School Activities Association has increased the size of the Class 6 districts this season. Eight teams will be vying for a championship as opposed to four or five in previous seasons, which could make it more difficult for the two rivals to meet again.
But Nixa’s victory does give them a leg up over the Tigers in the district seeding equations and Central Ozark Conference standings, both more important than speculating over a rematch.
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“Tomorrow morning I’ll sit around and feel really good about what we did over here and what we’ve done over here over the years,” Osborne said. “We’ve had some great games over here in this community and I hope it’s been entertaining for people. I think we put an entertaining team on the floor — and I know they do every year — so it’s been a special rivalry. Hopefully, we won’t have to play them again. But if we do, we’ll make the most of it as well.”
The Eagles, ranked sixth in the state in Class 6, improved to 17-3 and 3-0 in conference play. They are tied with Republic atop the COC standings and will host that team on February 15.
All other schools in the conference have at least one loss.
That includes Ozark, which fell to 13-6 (2-1) and suffered a potentially bigger loss as senior Tyler Harmon was injured after colliding with another player on a first-quarter layup attempt.
Ozark coach Mark Schweitzer said the Tigers would know more about Harmon’s status on Wednesday, although the impending winter weather could complicate that timetable.
“I really don’t know — and with the snow apocalypse, who knows about getting to a doctor?” Schweitzer said. “We’re going to wait and see how it is tomorrow and go from there.”
Harmon briefly returned to the floor several minutes after the collision, but was clearly feeling the effects of the injury and was pulled from the lineup for the remainder of the contest.
“You’ve got stuff in there that you don’t want to be damaged, so we need to be cautious,” Schweitzer said. “He tried to come back and give it a go, but I didn’t like what I saw out of him. I saw it in his face that he couldn’t go when we tried to go again and he was wanting to come out. And for that kid to want to come out, it had to hurt because he doesn’t want to come out ever.”
Even without Harmon, Ozark was able to keep pace with Nixa for much of the first half and entered the break trailing 38-34. But Ruffin hit three consecutive 3-pointers as Nixa opened the second half on a 19-4 run to take a 21-point lead — and never let the Tigers back into the game.
Ruffin said the Eagles were eager to avenge a disappointing 26-point loss to Class 4 No. 2 Blair Oaks in the Nixa Invitational Tournament on Saturday. That alone provided enough motivation, though the fact that that next game happened to be against their archrivals certainly didn’t hurt.
“Everyone’s super hungry,” Ruffin said. “Before the game, no one was really talking. Everyone’s super hungry. Everyone is ready to go. I know everyone was counting down these days.”
Ruffin scored 17 of Nixa’s 26 points during a third quarter in which they held Ozark to just 11 points. The senior scored just eight points in the other three quarters, though Jordyn Turner (18 points), Jaret Nelson (18) and Kael Combs (17) helped round out the Nixa offense.
Nelson scored 10 points in the first quarter, while Turner hit a trio of 3-pointers in the second quarter and finished with a team-high five. Combs chipped in at least four points each quarter.
“I thought we played with good energy,” Osborne said. “Played with a lot of pride. We played for something tonight. Just another step towards a conference title and a No. 1 seed in the district.”
With victories over Kickapoo, Central, Carthage and now Ozark, the Eagles appear to be the frontrunner for that top seed in a district that also includes Republic, Lebanon and Joplin.
“There are multiple teams that can win that district,” Osborne said. “It’s just going to be who plays the hardest and who’s playing the best at that time. We have a lot of basketball left.”
Ethan Whatley, who scored his 1,000th point for Ozark last week, added 26 for the Tigers.
Devyn Wright (12), Jace Whatley (11) and Colton Ballard (11) also scored in double-figures for Ozark, which was playing for just the fifth time in the calendar year — and second since a two-week layoff.
“Everyone that was here and watched that game knows that my kids left everything out there and they played their guts out,” Schweitzer said. “That’s all I can ask for them to do.”
NIXA 20 18 26 19 — 83
OZARK 18 16 11 22 — 67
