Boys Basketball Team Struggles To Score

RICK PECK/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS McDonald County's Pierce Harmon scores despite the defense of Monett's Ben Hoyt. Harmon finished with 24 points to lead the Mustangs in their 66-53 loss to the Cubs on Jan. 8 at MCHS.
RICK PECK/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS McDonald County's Pierce Harmon scores despite the defense of Monett's Ben Hoyt. Harmon finished with 24 points to lead the Mustangs in their 66-53 loss to the Cubs on Jan. 8 at MCHS.

Four days after having its best shooting night of the season, leading the way to its highest point output of the year, the McDonald County High School boys' basketball team struggled to get the ball in the basket in a 66-53 loss to Monett in a key Missouri Class 5, District 11, matchup on Jan. 8 at MCHS.

The teams were tied 11-11 at the end of the first quarter, but McDonald County went on an 8-4 run to start the second quarter to take a 19-15 lead.

After Monett tied the score at 19-19, McDonald County scored six straight points for a 25-19 lead. McDonald County maintained its six-point lead until Monett's Blaine Slasman hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Mustangs' lead to 27-24 at halftime.

Monett opened the second half with 10 consecutive points to take a 34-27 lead, holding McDonald County scoreless for the first four minutes of the third quarter.

A three-pointer by Pierce Harmon and a short jumper by Garrett Gricks cut the lead to 34-32. The teams traded baskets on their next possessions, but Monett closed out the third quarter with two consecutive baskets for a 40-34 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Harmon and Sterling Woods opened the fourth quarter with layups to cut the lead to 40-38, but Monett answered with a 9-3 advantage to stretch the margin to 49-41.

McDonald County was able to close to 49-45 on a steal and layup by Woods with 3:58 left in the game.

Monett held a 56-50 lead with 1:24 left before pulling away down the stretch with a 10-3 run for its 66-53 win.

"We had a completely different dynamic from Monday night against Carl Junction (89-70 win) to tonight," said coach Brandon Joines. Tonight we struggled shooting the ball. We shot 14 for 28 from the free-throw line and three for 18 from the three-point line and those are obviously things we can't have if we are going to have any success. A lot of our energy feeds off the defensive side of the ball by forcing turnovers and getting fast breaks. We did that occasionally, but we didn't get it consistently. Monett played a really strong game. They shot well and played hard defensively."

Harmon finished with 24 points to lead McDonald County. Eli McClain added eight points while Woods finished with seven, followed by Gricks with six, Teddy Reedybacon three, Cole Martin and Jackson Clarkson two each and Cross Dowd one.

"Pierce Harmon played a heck of a game," Joines said. "He was all over the place as much as could be. He shot the ball great and has been playing well for a while now. He is a guy that has bought into his role. Now we need the rest to buy into everything we ask them to do. When that happens, things will turn around."

Cameron George led Monett with 21 points. Daniel Navaro added 19.

With the win, Monett takes advantage in the race not to be the number four seed in the district. The district consists of Logan-Rogersville, Neosho, Monett and McDonald County.

Under the district playoff system for 2021, the number four seed will travel to the home of the number one seed while the third seed travels to the home of the second seed.

Logan-Rogersville it appears will be the number one seed. With losses to Neosho and Monett, McDonald County most likely will be the four seed.

Junior Varsity

McDonald County claimed a 42-40 win in the junior varsity game.

Levi Malone got a steal and turned it into a layup with under five seconds left to break a 40-40 tie.

Destyn Dowd scored 11 points to lead McDonald County, followed by Dalton McClain with nine points, Malone and Colton Ruddick seven each, Weston Gordon five, Devin Swanson two and Toby Moore one.

Freshman

The Mustangs added a 53-14 win in the freshman game.

Moore scored 17 and Josh Pacheco added 13 to lead McDonald county. Rounding out the scoring for McDonald County were Sam Barton with nine points, Destyn Dowd with six, and Tucker Walters and Rylan Armstrong with four each.

McDonald County falls to 2-9 heading into its Jan. 15 game against Seneca for its 2021 basketball homecoming.

RICK PECK/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS McDonald County's Garrett Gricks takes a rebound away from Monett's Drew Erwin during Monett's 66-53 win on Jan. 8 at MCHS.
RICK PECK/SPECIAL TO MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS McDonald County's Garrett Gricks takes a rebound away from Monett's Drew Erwin during Monett's 66-53 win on Jan. 8 at MCHS.