Mustangs Claim 64-57 Win Over Big 8 Rivals

RICK PECK/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS McDonald County's Peyton Barton grabs a rebound away from Lamar's Travis Bailey as Tim Shields puts Bailey in a Mustang vice during McDonald County's 64-57 win on Dec. 30 in the 13th-place game of the 63rd Neosho Holiday Classic.
RICK PECK/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS McDonald County's Peyton Barton grabs a rebound away from Lamar's Travis Bailey as Tim Shields puts Bailey in a Mustang vice during McDonald County's 64-57 win on Dec. 30 in the 13th-place game of the 63rd Neosho Holiday Classic.

Lamar's Garret Morey won the battle, but Blake Gravette and the McDonald County Mustangs won the war at last week's 63rd Annual Neosho Holiday Classic.

Morey and Gravette outshot 20 players from the cities of Brooklyn, Memphis and Houston and the states of Arkansas and Missouri to finish first and second in the tournament's three-point contest. Morey canned 12 of 25 three-pointers, while Gravette connected on 11 of 25. Six others shooters tied for third with 10.

Fittingly, the two southwest Missouri opponents faced off at 9 a.m. on Dec. 30, following the previous night's contest.

Not only did Gravette win the individual competition, the Mustangs claimed a 64-57 decision over their Big 8 Conference rivals.

"It was our fourth game in a row and at 9 o'clock in the morning, and I thought our kids showed a lot of resilience," coach Kyle Fields said. "They played with a lot of guts and toughness. We shot the ball really well and that carried us."

McDonald County finished by hitting 25 of 38 shots (65.8 percent) including eight of 14 three-pointers (57.1 percent). Gravette continued his hot shooting from the night before, hitting six of 11 treys to lead the Mustangs with 22 points.

Morey hit 100 percent of his shots, but the 5-10 senior was limited to just three shots, all from behind the three-point line, and finished with just nine points.

"Our defense is really starting to get better," Field said. "We made a few mental mistakes, but we played hard and we are getting better. Winning two games in this tournament is pretty good."

Gravette scored the Mustangs first nine points, all three-pointers, to give McDonald County a 9-7 lead midway through the first period. Morey answered with back-to-back treys for Lamar before Cade Smith came off the Mustang bench to score McDonald County's final three points of the quarter to leave the Mustangs' trailing 15-13 at the end of the period.

Midway through the second period, Gravette tied the game with a trey, but Lamar outscored McDonald County, 9-2, the rest of the quarter to take a 29-22 lead at intermission.

McDonald County came out of the locker room and quickly erased the Tiger lead, with Peyton Barton giving McDonald County a 32-31 lead with 4:02 left in the third quarter. The Mustangs went on to score seven straight points to cap off a 17-2 for a 39-31 lead.

McDonald County led, 46-39, after three quarters and stretched the margin to 56-45 midway through the fourth quarter. Lamar got no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Barton and Boston Dowd added 10 points each for the Mustangs, while Cooper Reece had nine, followed by Smith with five and Tim Shields and Cole DelosSantos with four each.

Ian Moore led Lamar with 21 points.

McDonald County improved to 3-8 for the season with its second win in two days after losing its opening two games of the tournament. The Mustangs next game is their Big 8 Conference opener against Monett on Jan. 9 at MCHS.

Benjamin Banneker Academy

Gravette hit a short jumper with 1:12 left to give McDonald County a 54-53 lead before Reece sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 14.1 seconds left in the Mustangs 56-53 win over Benjamin Banneker Academy of Brooklyn, N.Y., on Dec. 29.

The teams traded baskets in the first quarter, with Banneker's three-point lead to open the game the biggest margin of the quarter. The Warriors led 13-12 at the end of the quarter and led for most of the second period before Gravette and Dowd hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Mustangs a 28-27 lead at halftime.

McDonald County stretched its lead to 45-38 late in the third quarter, but Banneker's Takari Simpkins banked in a 35-footer at the buzzer to cut the Mustang lead to 45-41 entering the final period.

McDonald County maintained a small lead until the Warriors' Jahlil Mendoza scored off a Mustang turnover with 1:26 left to give Benjamin Banneker a 53-52 lead.

Gravette then hit the game-winner on McDonald County's next possession and the Mustang defense held the Warriors scoreless over the final minute and a half.

"There must be something about playing a team from Brooklyn," Fields quipped. "We're undefeated against New York teams. The kids were motivated and played with a lot of intensity. We found a way to win, and that has me feeling really good about this team."

Reece hit eight of 11 shots, including two of two from three-point land, to lead the Mustangs with 22 points. Gravette finished with 14 points, followed by Dowd and Smith with six each and Barton and DelosSantos with four each.

Tyreek Barlow led Benjamin Banneker with 14 points.

West Memphis

McDonald County trailed a powerful West Memphis Blue Demon team, 10-9, late in the first quarter before the Blue Devils turned up the heat to hold the Mustangs to 15 points the rest of the way to claim a 57-24 win in the opening round of the tournament on Dec. 27.

West Memphis closed out the first quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 17-9 lead at the end of the quarter and then started the second period with an 11-0 run for a 28-9 lead.

The Blue Demons led, 32-13, at halftime and, 52-16, at the end of three quarters.

Barton led the Mustangs with seven points, followed by Gravette and Reece with five each, Smith four, Shields two and Dylan Allison one.

Kelsey Hubbard and Cavin Paige scored nine points each to lead West Memphis.

Van Buren

Reece gave the Mustangs a 17-16 lead early in the second period against the Van Buren Pointers, but the Pointers outscored McDonald County, 53 -29, the rest of the way to claim a 69-46 win on Dec. 28.

McDonald County trailed just 36-30 after scoring six straight points in the third quarter, but Van Buren closed out the period with an 8-0 run to take a 44-30 lead into the fourth period.

Gravette scored 16 points and Reece 10 to lead the Mustangs. Rounding out the scoring for McDonald County were Dowd with nine points, Smith five, Barton four and Shields two.

Van Buren's Presley Kindrix scored 25 points to lead all scorers.

Several Mustangs were among the tournament's individual statistical leaders. Dowd led all players in assists with 20 in four games, while Shields was one of two players to hit all of his shots from the floor (4/4). Gravette was third in three-point attempts with 31 and second in made treys with 14. The senior guard was also five of six from the free-throw line to tie for sixth. Dowd also finished ninth in three-point average at .556 (5/9).

Sports on 01/04/2018