Brennen Yust and Preston Armstrong combined for 44 points to lead the Seneca Indians to a 59-52 win over the McDonald County Mustangs on Jan. 11 at MCHS.
Yust, a 6-3 forward, scored 23 points, while Armstrong added 21 points, including Seneca's only two three-pointers of the game.
"They are a different team than in the past couple of years," coach Kyle Fields said. "They're lively and play better defense. They have a good post player (Yust) who puts his body on people and is a good screener. Armstrong hit some big three's tonight when they needed a basket."
McDonald County led 10-8 midway through the first period before the Indians closed out the quarter with a 10-2 run to take an 18-12 lead at the end of the period.
Seneca stretched its lead to 27-19 late in the second quarter, but McDonald County cut the lead to 31-27 at intermission behind a pair of three-pointers by freshmen Cole Martin and Pierce Harmon.
Seneca opened the second half with a 9-0 start to take a 40-29 lead before Cooper Reece scored eight of his game-high 26 points to help cut the margin to 44-38 entering the fourth quarter.
Armstrong scored seven quick points to start the fourth quarter to help Seneca pull out to a 57-44 lead, and McDonald County could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
"I thought we hit a lull to start the second half," Fields said. "We didn't come out of the locker room and execute very well. When they went on that stretch in the fourth quarter and the score got to over three possessions was a key part of the game."
In addition to Reece's 26 points, McDonald County received eight points from Harmon, five from Cade Smith, four from Tae-Shaun Alik and three from Martin, Boston Dowd and Trent Alik.
McDonald County claimed a 47-39 win in the junior varsity game.
The teams were tied 17-17 at halftime before the Mustangs outscored Seneca, 30-22, in the second half for the win.
Jackson Clarkson led McDonald County with 19 points, followed by Tae-Shaun Alik with eight, Smith seven, Cale Adamson six, Koby McAlister three and Harmon and Ben Mora two each.
The McDonald County freshmen received 15 points from Teddy Reedybacon and 11 from Garrett Gricks to lead the Mustangs to a 47-28 win. Bo Leach added nine, while Colton Ruddick and Eli McClain had six points each.
McDonald County falls to 4-10 entering its Jan. 15 game against Lamar. The Mustangs are at Cassville on Jan. 22.
Monett
Monett had four players score in double figures to lead the Cubs to a 78-67 win over the Mustangs on Jan. 8 at MCHS.
The Cubs took a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and led 34-25 at halftime.
Monett opened the third quarter by outscoring the Mustangs 12-5 to stretch the lead to 46-30 midway through the period and led 53-41 entering the fourth quarter.
McDonald County trailed 58-44 early in the quarter before going on an 8-1 run to cut the lead to 59-52 with 4:32 left in the game. But Monett scored 11 of its final 13 points from the free-throw line to seal the win.
Reece scored 27 points and Dowd had 20 to lead McDonald County. Smith added nine points, followed by Harmon with five, Martin three, Trent Alik two and McAlister one.
Monett was led by Jackson Spencer with 21 points, while Gavin Carr had 19, Cole McCullough 13 and Trevon Price 12.
McDonald County claimed a 45-31 win in the junior varsity game.
Smith and McAlister had nine points each, while Adamson had eight followed by Colliar Gottfried with six, Ben Mora four, Harmon and Martin three each, Irael Marcos two and Clarkson one.
McDonald County added a 40-18 win in the freshman game.
Reedybacon scored 10 points to lead the Mustangs, followed by Devin Swanson with seven, Gricks, Leach and Matthew Mora six each, Kobe Montes three and McClain two.
Sports on 01/17/2019