Despite losing all five starters plus two other seniors to graduation and having three top returners out with injuries, the McDonald County High School boys basketball team came out firing on all cylinders at a four-team jamboree held at Joplin High School on Nov. 18.
The Mustangs began the scrimmages against Joplin and promptly scored the first seven points of the first six-minute period on the way to an 11-5 win.
Cooper Reece scored McDonald County's first basket on a driving layup before Brandon McAdams hit a pair of perimeter shots, including a three pointer.
Joplin got on the scoreboard with a free throw before Reese scored on a fast break to stretch the lead to 9-1. Joplin closed to within 9-5 before Grant Cooper hit a mid-range jumper for McDonald County's final points.
Joplin jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second period before Reece hit a trey to cut the margin to 5-3. The Eagles stretched their margin to 10-3 before Kirby Townsend scored late to make the final 10-5.
McDonald County started its scrimmage against East Newton in similar fashion to its first period against Joplin.
McAdams hit a three pointer to open the scoring and Reece scored on a layup from an assist from Sergio Dozal to stake McDonald County a 5-0 lead. McAdams hit his third trey of the night to give the Mustangs an 8-2, but East Newton cut the margin to 8-6 before Dozal hit a trey of his won. East Newton scored late to make the final 11-8.
East Newton claimed the second period by a 10-3 score with the only points for McDonald County coming on a three pointer by Rustan Lett.
Neosho defeated McDonald County 4-2 in the first period and 10-2 in the second in the Mustangs' final scrimmage.
Reece had McDonald County's points in the first period and McAdams had a basket for the Mustangs in the second.
"We are happy with we are at right now," said coach Kyle Fields, who is in his first action other than a practice as head coach of the Mustangs. "We came out and played hard and we got on the floor. We did some of the little things that we have to do to compete. Just our execution is not very good right now. We have a long ways to go with our execution and our timing in our offense. There were some little things in our defense that we need to fix, but we are excited about where we are at. We were happy and pleased with our play tonight.
"There were probably times when we weren't trying to win a game, but really see some things. It was good to play some different kids and see some different combinations. It was good for our kids to see the speed of the game at the varsity level. We haven't seen that yet in practice. That was a good eye-opener for our kids."
McDonald County opened the season on Nov. 21 at Joplin High School. The Mustangs open play in the Carthage tournament against top-seeded Nevada at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 28.
Sports on 11/24/2016