The McDonald County seventh-grade boys basketball team capped off a perfect 16-0 season by winning the Big 8 Junior High Boys Basketball Tournament last week at Triway Junior High School and East Newton High School.
The Mustangs defeated East Newton 37-30 on Feb. 9 at East Newton High School in the title game. McDonald County built a 24-13 lead at halftime and cruised to its 16th straight win.
Bo Lech scored 14 points and Pierce Harmon 12 to lead McDonald County. Rounding out the scoring for the Mustangs were Garrett Gricks with five points and Cole Martin, Dylan Igisomar and Junior Eliam two each.
McDonald County opened the tournament with a 55-9 win over Cassville on Feb. 4 at Triway. Martin scored 14 points and Harmon 12 to lead McDonald County followed by Leach with nine points, Gricks six, Eli McClain and Eliam four each and Devin Swanson, Levi Helm and S.J. Joseph two each.
In the semifinals, McDonald County defeated Aurora 57-42 behind 22 points from Leach. Rounding out the scoring for the Mustangs were Harmon with 10 points, Martin, Igisomar and Gricks seven points each and McClain and Gricks two each.
Eighth Grade
The McDonald County eighth-grade boys took third place in the conference tournament with a 39-27 win over Cassville on Feb. 9 to finish the season with an overall record of 8-7.
McDonald County was led by Parker Harris with 18 points and Trent Alik with 10. Rounding out the scoring for the Mustangs were Jackson Clarkson and Carlos Sosa with four points each and Chris Arrowood with three.
McDonald County defeated Aurora 38-32 in the opening round on Feb. 4. Harris scored 16 points to lead the Mustangs followed by Alik with eight points, Arrowood and Clarkson six each and Logan Renner two.
In the semifinals, Lamar outscored McDonald County 5-3 in overtime to claim a 48-46 win.
Harris scored 20 points and Alik had 10 to lead McDonald County followed by Clarkson with eight points,
Arrowood five, Tracye McCool two and Irael Marcos one.
Action Two Weeks Ago
The McDonald County seventh-grade boys basketball team capped off a perfect 13-0 regular season with a 66-28 win over Webb City on Feb. 2 at Pineville Junior High School.
McDonald County jumped out to as 27-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and stretched the margin to 46-13 at halftime to 57-23 after three quarters.
The Mustangs were led by Bo Leach with 24 points, including 12 in the first quarter. Pierce Harmon hit three treys in the first quarter and finished with 13 points, while Junior Eliam added 10 points followed by Garrett Gricks with nine, Matthew Mora eight, and Dylan Igisomar two.
The seventh grade B team also finished the regular season with an unbeaten record, claiming as 46-21 over the Cardinals for a 10-0 record.
Devin Swanson scored 10 points while Colton Ruddick, Levi Helm, Eli McClain and Logan Harriman had eight points each to lead McDonald County. Rounding out the scoring for the Mustangs was S.J. Joseph with four points.
The seventh graders finished the Big 8 Conference regular season with a 7-0 record after beating Cassville 43-7 on Jan. 31 in Cassville.
McDonald County took a 19-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and stretched it to 32-8 by halftime and to 40-9 after three quarters.
Leach led the Mustangs with 10 points followed by Mora, Eliam and Gricks with seven points each, Igisomar six, Cole Martin four and Harmon two.
The B team also closed out conference play with a 7-0 record by beating the Wildcats 61-6. McClain scored 22 points and Helm added 16 to lead the Mustangs followed by Harriman with nine points, Joseph seven, Swanson four and Ruddick three.
McDonald County defeated Aurora 63-28 on Jan. 30 at Pineville Junior High School. The Mustangs led 37 -21 at halftime before using a 20-1 advantage in the third quarter for a 57-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Leach and Harmon scored 13 points each to lead four Mustangs in double figures. Martin and Eliam added 10 points each followed by Gricks with eight points, Igisomar seven and Mora two.
The B team added a 46-19 win. Scoring totals for the Mustangs are as follows: McClain 12, Joseph nine, Helm eight, Swanson and Harriman six each and Ruddick five.
Gricks scored 14 points, Leach 13 and Eliam 10 to lead McDonald County to a 59-12 win over Monett on Jan. 26 in Pineville. Rounding out the scoring for the Mustangs were Harmon with eight points, Igisomar six, Martin five and Mora three.
The B team added a 75-9 win behind 18 points from McClain, 14 from Harriman and 12 each from Swanson, Ruddick and Helm. Rounding out the scoring for the Mustangs was Joseph with seven points.
Eighth Grade
McDonald County's eight-grade team finished the regular season with a 6-6 after a 57-28 loss to the Cardinals at Anderson Middle School.
Trayce McCool scored seven points and Irael Marcos and Parker Harris had six each to lead the Mustangs. Rounding out the scoring for McDonald County were Trent Alik with four points, Kaiden Campbell three and Carlos Sosa two.
Webb City made it as sweep with a 40-31 win in the game. McDonald County was led by Jordan Meador with nine points followed by Sebastian Gill with eight, Ricky Sanchez six, Campbell four, and Damian Martinez and Parker Toney two each.
The eighth grade defeated Cassville 41-39 behind 13 points from Alik and nine each from Chris Arrowood and Jackson Clarkson on Jan. 31 in Cassville. Rounding out the scoring for McDonald County were Harris with six points and Marcos and Sosa two each.
The eighth grade B team dropped a 30-29 decision. Scoring totals for the Mustangs are as follows: Meador 15, McCool six, Sanchez four and Gill and Campbell two each.
Logan Renner scored 15 points while Harris had 13 and Alik 10 to lead McDonald County to a 50-42 win over Aurora on Jan. 30 at Anderson Middle School. Clarkson added eight points followed by Marcos and Arrowood two each.
The B team added a 30-20 win over the Houn Dogs. Sanchez led a balanced scoring attack with eight points followed by Gill with seven points, Meador five, Grayson Farris and Sosa three each and McCool and Campbell two each.
McDonald County defeated Monett 31-25 on Jan. 26 in Anderson. Harris scored 16 points and Alik 10 to lead McDonald County. Rounding out the scoring for the Mustangs were Renner with three points and Marcos two.
Monett claimed a 31-28 decision in the B game. McDonald County was led in scoring by Gill with eight points followed by Meador and McCool six each, Sanchez four, Farris three and Toney one.
The seventh- and eighth-grade teams close out the season at this week's Big 8 Conference Junior High Boys Basketball Tournament in Granby (eighth grade) and Triway (seventh grade). Finals are set for Feb. 9.
Sports on 02/16/2017