It had the all the makings of a reversal of fortunes, but a Webb City miss with eight seconds left kept the Cardinals from escaping a late McDonald County rally as the Mustangs held on for a 32-30 win Monday night at McDonald County High School.
McDonald County beat Webb City Jan. 10 in the Kaminsky Classic on Dagan Stites' late three-pointer when the Cardinals rallied after trailing virtually the entire game.
Monday night it was the Mustangs who had to come back late after they fell behind at the opening tip and never took a lead in the game until 36.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
"This was probably the most physical game we played this year," said coach Trent Barratt. "The refs let the players decide the game and we were fortunate to make the plays at the end of the game. What a great win for our program in front of a great crowd. I just am proud of the kids' resiliency and the way they responded and got a big win."
The fourth quarter opened with the teams tied at 23-23 after Jake Wood hit a pair of free throws with 6.9 seconds left in the third quarter. It was the first time McDonald hadn't trailed since the opening tip.
After trading baskets to open the fourth quarter, Webb City jumped out to a 30-26 lead with 1:09 left. Daton Aubrey answered with a three-pointer at the 50.2 mark to cut the margin to 30-29.
Trailing by one, the Mustangs then fouled Tyson Roderique with 36.2 seconds left. Roderique missed the front end of the one-and-one and Aubrey was fouled by Kaden Roy on the rebound.
The 6-7 junior calmly sank both free throws, giving the Mustangs their first lead of the game. After Webb City called two time-outs, Roderique missed a three-pointer from the corner with eight seconds left and Aubrey was fouled again on the rebound.
Aubrey made the first free throw with five seconds remaining, but missed the second. Webb City's Trey Gibson missed a half-court heave at the buzzer leaving McDonald County with a 32-30 win.
"Webb City ran a pretty good 2-3 matchup zone and it gave us problems," Barratt said. "They slowed the game down. They were really trying to limit the possessions. We got some good looks, but we didn't shoot a very high percentage. We need to keep getting better. I think if we keep bringing that kind of energy and effort we are going to be peaking at the right time."
Webb City scored the game's first six points en route to an 11-7 edge at the end of the first quarter. The Cardinals stretched the lead to 16-9 midway in the second, but McDonald County closed out the first half with a 5-0 run to cut the margin to 16-14 at halftime.
Webb City lead by four points twice in the third quarter before Wood's free throws at the end of the period tied the game.
Aubrey finished with 11 points to lead the Mustangs. Rounding out the scoring were Austin Grotts with six points, Stites five, Drew Harmon and Max Dill three each and Kole Keith and Wood two each.
Webb City was led by Gibson with 14 points and Roy with 12.
McDonald County improves to 8-7 overall, 1-1 in the Big 8 Conference, before traveling to Carthage on Jan. 27 and hosting Seneca on Jan. 29.
Junior Varsity
Webb City claimed a 40-31 decision in the junior varsity contest. McDonald County was led by Collin Enssle with 10 points and Peyton Barton with nine. Rounding out the scoring were Sergio Dozal with four points, Devon Aubrey and Jacob Spurlock three each and Cole DelosSantos two.
Sports on 01/22/2015