After winning the regular season Big 8 Conference with an undefeated conference record, the McDonald County eighth-grade boys had to settle for fourth place at last week's Big 8 Conference tournament in Lamar.
McDonald County opened the tournament with a 55-4 win over Monett. The Mustangs held the Cubs scoreless in the first half as they built a 27-0 lead at intermission.
Bo Leach led a balanced McDonald County scoring attack with 10 points. Rounding out the scoring were Colton Ruddick with eight points, Junior Eliam with six, Kaden Keeling and Garrett Gricks five each, Cole Martin, Levi Malone and Levi Helm four each, Pierce Harmon three, Jakobe Montes, Eli McClain and Matthew Mora two each.
East Newton
East Newton upset McDonald County 45-42 in the tournament semifinals.
The Patriots led 11-8 at the end of the first quarter, 19-17 at halftime and stretched the lead to 36-24 after three quarters.
Leach scored 21 points to lead McDonald County, followed by Martin and Harmon with six each, Mora three and McClain, Gricks and Eliam two each.
Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon rallied in the second half to claim a 50-40 win in the third-place game.
McDonald County led 15-9 at the end of the first quarter and 23-18 at halftime before Mount Vernon closed to 28-27 after three periods. The Mountaineers then outscored the Mustangs 23-12 in the final period.
Harmon scored 15 points to lead McDonald County. Martin added nine points, followed by Leach with six, Mora four and Ruddick, Gricks and Eliam two each.
McDonald County finishes the season with a 10-5 overall record.
Sports on 02/15/2018