Nixa turns the tables on Kickapoo with 46-43 win in Class 6 District 5 championship

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By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

After three straight years of season-ending losses to Kickapoo, it was Nixa’s time to return the favor on Friday night.

With a three-point lead at the end of the game, the Eagles utilized a stifling defense and forced a one-handed heave by Landon Keisker that came up short at the buzzer. Final score: Nixa 46, Kickapoo 43.

“We guarded for 24 seconds, that’s all I can say,” Nixa coach Jay Osborne said. “I thought defensively both teams were outstanding. We missed a lot of free throws, we had some cross court turnovers that just about buried us but we found a way to win. We beat a really good basketball team. Really proud of our kids. We didn’t play perfect, we missed a lot of free throws but the final 24 seconds I think dictated the whole game.”

With 4:28 remaining the game was tied at 40 after the teams traded three pointers. Kael Combs scored at the 3:55 mark, Kickapoo’s Zaide Lowery made a free throw a few seconds later, and then Nixa’s Jaret Nelson and Jackson Bell scored baskets to make it 46-41 with 1:46 left to play.

The Eagles missed a 1-and-1 opportunity in the final minute, and Lowery scored with 43 seconds on the clock to cut it to 3. And then came a Nixa turnover, giving the Chiefs the ball in the final seconds.

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“We still had a timeout, we had enough time and we were trying to get something at the basket,” Kickapoo coach Mitch McHenry said. “Nixa took it away and did a good job. We were trying to get the ball to Zaide, he’d been our hot hand down the stretch and they took it away. I should have called a timeout. I thought we could get to some flow to get a shot when they were scrambling a little bit and they did a good job of sticking with our shooters to end the game there and we didn’t get a high percentage look. It probably should have resulted in a timeout by me and a chance to draw something else up.”

Nixa (26-3), which was the top seed in the district and was ranked fourth in the last state rankings, will face Lee’s Summit West in the quarterfinal round at Bolivar. Sixth-ranked Kickapoo finishes 25-4.

“There’s very little that separates good teams like this,” Osborne said. “We’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for them and what they’ve done, their tradition and history. We’re lucky to win because we didn’t play perfect but we found a way to win. I thought our seniors stepped up and showed themselves tonight and they’re junior dominated so that might have been a little bit of a difference.”

Nixa led 10-5 after a quarter and trailed 21-19 at halftime. The Eagles were down 5 early in the third quarter but went on an 8-0 run capped by a Colin Ruffin three that made it 27-24.

Kickapoo took a 30-29 lead later in the quarter, but two baskets by Combs put Nixa back in front.

Again, Kickapoo pulled ahead midway through the fourth, this time 40-37, after a three by Lowery. But Ruffin answered with another triple to tie it up and then Kickapoo scored just one point in the next four-plus minutes.

“I thought we made it really difficult for their shooters to get looks,” Osborne said. “They hit 16 threes on Wednesday night and they weren’t going to do that tonight. We let them get loose to the rim a few times but defensively we tried to run them off the line.”

“It’s just sad somebody has to lose tonight but I’m glad it’s not us,” he said.

Ruffin and Combs each scored 13 for Nixa, and Jackson Bell and Nelson each scored 8. Lowery had 19 for Kickapoo and Trae Oetting added 9.

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