Schools are starting back up again, jamborees are tonight, and temperatures are still in the 90s. Ah, football season in the Ozarks. And so here begins the flood of football information over the next week. Today is the preview with my entirely meaningless yet so much fun preseason rankings, week to week games to watch and why, and the players to go see. Next will come my conference by conference previews & predictions. And we’ll finish up with my entirely fearless predictions on who advances to the playoffs. With that, away we go.
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A huge contest in Verona tonight as the Lady Wildcats were looking to rebound from a loss to Clever against state-ranked Purdy who knocked off Miller last week. And rebound Verona did as they win the Ozark 7 matchup 61-56 behind the 23 points of Tristan Carrasquillo. Jessica Smith added 21 for Verona, while Shelby White led Purdy with 20. On the boys side, Parkview gives a big shot in the arm to their Ozark Conference title hopes knocking off Joplin 51-48. And Houston rides Kyle Poynter’s 36 points to a 84-83 double overtime win over Mountain Grove. Poynter hit a 3 as the 4th quarter buzzer went off to send the game to overtime tied at 66. Then hit the game winner in double overtime for the Tigers. BASKETBALL BOYS McAuley Warrior Classic
Varsity
What a day yesterday. Four games at the Blue and Gold. Then the KTXR Lady Classic first round with Webb City’s 65-62 overtime win over Midwest City capping off a tremendous day. Here’s a few thoughts from each game before we get to the scores. Blue and Gold
Caught the Crane/Cassville boys game last night deep in Barry County. I wanted to get a first hand look at Crane’s high scoring guard Levi Cook, and see how and if the Cassville Wildcats were progressing under new coach TJ Dickenson. When the dust settled, Crane had themselves a 61-44 victory, Cook had 27 points, and the Wildcats have reason to hope. The game itself was entertaining. Cassville jumped out to a 7-2 lead only to see Crane reel off a 10-1 run and finish the first quarter up 12-8. Cassville stayed in the game though not letting Crane pull away until a 12-2 run in the third quarter game them some breathing room. Cook had 14 points in the first half, and 13 in the second, most of them answering each Cassville attempt to get back in the game. And they wouldn’t as the Pirates outscored them in each quarter to get the win. A great Saturday of football. Some great performances, a couple of fantastic finishes, and three area teams took a step closer to state titles. The Big 8 had a big day. And a future high school legend took his last trip to the end zone. CLASS 1
In trying to decide our destination tonight, my stat keeper (and son) voted for Purdy to see the Lady Eagles light it up again or Bolivar for Branson/Central and Nixa/Neosho. But I hold the keys and drive so I gave into the temptation to watch the Webb City/Republic rematch and Aurora take on Webb City. So off to Joplin we went. My strong suspicion was that the boys game would be much closer than it looked on paper, and boy was I right. Trey Laveroni scored first for the Cardinals and it quickly became apparent that they were very prepared to handle Aurora’s pressure. They found men open behind the press, room to dribble through the press, and open passes over the press as the Houn Dawgs couldn’t get the turnovers needed to get a run going. Indeed, if Webb’s passing had been more accurate, they would have had an even more productive first half. As it was, both teams played at about the same level, and the first half swayed back and forth. Six ties and eight lead changes as the teams fought to the half with Webb up 27-25 after scoring the last four points before the break. |
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