By Chris Parker
The latest chapter in the Kickapoo and Nixa boys basketball rivalry was another classic.
Kickapoo trailed Nixa the entire game on Wednesday until sophomore Reese Kimrey knocked down a mid-range jumper to put the Chiefs ahead 54-52 with 2.3 seconds left in the contest. Nixa failed to get a shot off before the buzzer sending Kickapoo to the key district win.
It was all Nixa early in the game with the Eagles jumping out to a 12-6 lead after the first quarter and a 28-20 lead at the half.
That sent Kickapoo into the locker room looking to regroup.
“We had to clean up some things. It was (28-20) at half, which is not a lot of scoring. We had to clean up some stuff defensively. Offensively, we got some good shots in the first half, but they just didn’t fall, and we just didn’t finish very well around the basket,” Kickapoo head coach Mitch McHenry said. “We just preach to our kids that if we get a few stops in a row and score on a couple buckets then that lead gets cut in half pretty quick. There is a lot of game to be played. This is a rivalry game, so there is a lot of emotion and a lot of ups and downs. We just felt like if could stay within striking distance and give ourselves a chance at the end, and we had some guys make some big plays down the stretch.”
Kickapoo came out of the break with its best quarter of the night scoring 19 points to trim Nixa’s lead to five at 44-39 after three quarters.
The Chiefs continued to whittle the Nixa lead down until the game was tied with under a minute to go.
Nixa had the ball with a chance to take the lead, but Kickapoo’s Jackson Shorter stepped in to take the charge and get the ball back for his team.
“That is what (Jackson) does. That is who he is. It doesn’t matter if it is the first play of the game or the last play of the game,” McHenry said. “He is going to take a charge in that situation ten out ten times. That is just what he does.”
While Shorter took a charge on the defensive end, Kimrey took charge on the offensive end.
With just under 10 seconds to go, Kimrey initiated the offense and drove to the left side and hit a pull-up jumper to give Kickapoo a 54-52 lead with 2.3 seconds left in the game.
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“It is just the maturity that he has. He is a great playmaker with great vision. He has played that way since he stepped into our program,” McHenry said. “People who have watched us play can see that he is being asked to do a lot more this year as a sophomore. He is one of several guards in our program that are high level, and these are the moments they like. When you play Class 6 (basketball) and come to Kickapoo you are going to be in these high-stakes game with a chance to make big plays.”
Nixa failed to get a shot off in the final 2.3 seconds to send Kickapoo to its seventh win in eight tries to start the season.
It is a statement win that Kickapoo will look to build on.
“We are definitely underrated. People think that we are undersized and that we can’t rebound. We come out and play hard and play defense and we the job done,” Kimrey said.
Kimrey led all scorers with 15 points including seven in the fourth quarter. Jackson Cantwell led Nixa with 12 points.
In addition to a rivalry victory, it is also a district win which will be key come postseason time. The Chiefs have games with two more district foes in Ozark and Joplin before the Christmas break.
“We have two more district games before December (ends) which are big. When you talk about being in an eight-team district and a district that is going to be loaded at the end of the year, any district win is a huge win,” McHenry said. “This is a great win early in the year. Our kids are playing at a really high level at the beginning of the year, but this will not be the highlight of the year. There are still a lot of games to be played. We are going to continue to get better. Our goal is to be playing our best at the end.”
Kickapoo, 7-1 overall, will face Kirkwood at 10 pm on Friday at Greenwood.
Nixa, which fell to 5-2 with the loss, will host Springfield Central on Dec. 19.
