By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Nearly five months ago in preseason practices, Jordyn Turner and the Nixa Eagles set their eyes on the biggest prize.
They planned to hoist a Class 6 state championship on the JQH Arena court come mid-March.
“From the start of the season, we thought we were going to win a state championship,” Turner said. “We came in here looking to win that title.”
Christian Brothers College, a private school from St. Louis, dashed Nixa’s basketball dreams on Friday night.
The Cadets, behind 38 combined points from guards Robert Martin and Larry Hughes, defeated Nixa 68-51 in the Class 6 Show-Me Showdown championship game.
It wasn’t the storybook ending Nixa sought.
The Eagles entered the game seeking the program’s first state title in 23 years, which would in turn give their retiring head coach the ultimate send-off.
“Proud moment for us, just to be here,” said Nixa coach Jay Osborne. “That’s not what you want somebody to say, but I’m very proud of our program.”
Turner led the way for Nixa, scoring 20 points on 6-for-7 shooting from 3-point range.
His hot shooting wasn’t enough to keep Nixa at pace with CBC as the game progressed.
CBC limited Nixa’s leading scorers, Kael Combs and Colin Ruffin, to 15 combined points on six field goal attempts.
“That has everything to do with CBC’s defense,” Osborne said. “Give them credit for that.”
Combs battled foul trouble throughout the game. Ruffin netted all nine of his points at the free throw line.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
With the win, CBC earns its seventh state championship in program history and first since 2014. The Cadets finished as the Class 5 runner-up three years ago.
CBC faced a very pro-Nixa crowd on Friday.
“This game was nothing we didn’t prepare ourselves for,” said CBC coach Justin Tatum. “We’ve prepared ourselves by having a tough schedule, playing 90 percent of our games on the road and being used to a tough environment like this.”
After leading 31-27 at halftime, CBC gradually pulled away in the second half.
The Cadets went on a 13-3 run midway through the third quarter to go up 48-34. Nixa finished with 21 turnovers.
“They made it hard for us to do certain things, hard to get into any sets,” Osborne said. “Their quickness, athleticism and length gave us a lot of problems. That’s something we just can’t simulate in practice. As poorly as we played in the first half, we’re down only four at halftime. I thought we were in pretty good shape.”
Hughes and Martin scored 20 and 18, respectively, for CBC.
Turner, who missed only one of his eight total shots, said he gained a lot of confidence when he drained a 3-pointer on a fastbreak in the opening minutes.
“As soon as I hit that first 3, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is probably going to be a good night,’” Turner said. “I don’t really come out of transition shooting 3s. I hit that first 3 and knew I might make a few more.”
Nixa graduates a six-player senior class, four of which are starters.
“What means the most is how the Nixa’s community rallied around us these last few weeks,” said Nixa senior Jaret Nelson. “They had our back.”
Friday also marked the final game for Osborne as Nixa’s head coach. Nixa Public Schools announced Osborne’s retirement before the start of this season.
Osborne spent 30 of his 33 seasons as a head coach at Nixa. He won nearly 700 games overall in his career and coached Nixa to four final four appearances, including a state championship in 1999.
“A lot of coaches never get a chance to be here,” Osborne said. “A lot of coaches, who are outstanding coaches, never get the chance to coach in the state finals. I’ve had the opportunity to do that a few times. Sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you want, but it wasn’t for lack of effort or commitment on our part. We’re proud of our school and our community.
“I think our community’s proud of us. We’ve represented them very well. We’ll be fine.”
Christian Brothers College 68, Nixa 51
CBC 12 19 17 20 — 68
Nixa 11 16 9 15 — 51
CBC (26-6 overall) – Larry Hughes 20, Robert Martin 18, John Bol 8, Justus Johnson 7, Kendall Huston 6, Eric Holmes 4, Mikhail Abdul-Hamid 3, Calvin Ross 2
Nixa (28-4 overall) – Jordyn Turner 20, Colin Ruffin 9, Jackson Bell 8, Kael Combs 6, Corey Kemp 4, Jackson Bell 2, Noah Engelman 2
