ANDERSON -- From the opening tip to their final steps off the court, McDonald County's senior quintet went out in style Tuesday night, leading the Mustangs to a 63-43 victory over the Monett Cubs to cap the boys' senior night at Mustang Arena.
The Mustangs improve to 11-10 overall and 4-0 in the Big 8 West with road conference games left this week against Cassville and Nevada. The Cubs slip to 9-12.
McDonald County coach Brandon Joines chose to start all five of his team's seniors Tuesday night -- Jaxson Harrell, Dalton McClain, Cross Dowd, Sterling Woods and Weston Gordon -- and the five responded with a 12-point first quarter and 14-point second to give the Mustangs a 26-24 halftime lead.
"We started obviously with a different crew and gave the seniors their start and their time to get their name announced," said Joines. "They came out and hung with for the entire first quarter and did their job to get us started. The second quarter was more of the same, we just hung with."
After the two teams swapped buckets to start the third quarter, Dowd hit a 3-pointer ahead of a trey by Monett's Blaine Salsman. But Woods answered with a 3 and Gordon came up with a steal and then scored seconds later on a layup off an assist from Toby Moore at the 5:01 mark of the third for a 36-29 advantage.
The McDonald County run continued with a layup by Woods, another layup by Gordon and two 3s by Dowd for a 46-29 cushion for the home team with 1:38 left in the stanza.
"In the third quarter we got the lead we wanted and needed and were able to make the fourth quarter about the seniors," said Joines. "That was the goal, to make senior night about the seniors and they got that moment."
After the dust had settled on McDonald County's 22-10 third quarter, the Mustangs iced the cake with a 15-9 fourth quarter to wrap up the celebration of the Senior Five.
"And more important than all (the celebration) in my opinion was that all five guys got to get in the scorebook and get at least one point each, and that's fantastic," said Joines.
Dowd and Woods finished with 14 points apiece, while McClain and Gordon added 12 and 10, respectively.
"Dalton McClain getting 12 points, and on all of them from getting to the rim and aggressive finishes ... that's what he's got to focus on for us and that's what he's doing right now," said Joines.
Harrell finished with one point, but his performance will be remembered for much more than the one free throw he sank, or even the hustle play he made in covering almost half of the court to track down a steal for the Mustangs.
"Jaxson Harrell doesn't get a ton of playing time but, my goodness, he got the crowd behind him on two or three plays," said Joines. "He tried to hold it in, but I just told him, 'Don't even act like you don't love this!' Those are big moments he's going to remember the rest of his life. He'll have that pop in his mind and it'll be something he can smile about."
He added, "So to give (McClain and Harrell) specifically their moment was awesome for us."
Destyn Dowd contributed six points to the McDonald County scoring total. Joshua Pacheco added four points and Moore two.
"I've been blessed to have four years of senior nights going this way and getting to give (the seniors) their moment at the end of the game," said Joines, "and that's kudos for the players for doing their jobs and making that happen. It's nothing on me or the coaching staff, it's the seniors making their night special and I love that for them."
Riley Rhea finished with 14 points for the Cubs with teammate Landyn Brandt adding 10.
MCDONALD COUNTY 63,
MONETT 43
Monett^13^11^10^9^--^43
McDonald County^12^14^22^15^--^63
MONETT (9-12): Rhea 14, Brandt 10, Waterman 6, Meeks 6, Young 4, Thrasher 3.
MCDONALD COUNTY (11-10): C. Dowd 14, Woods 14, McClain 12, Gordon 10, D. Dowd 6, Pacheco 4, Moore 2, Harrell 1.
McDonald County 49, East Newton 44
GRANBY -- Even though McDonald County was outscored in three of the four quarters it played against East Newton on Friday, Feb. 3, the 13-0 second quarter put up by the Mustangs was enough to help them come away with a 49-44 victory.
After the Patriots had eased out to a 10-9 lead through the first quarter of play, the Mustangs blanked the home squad, 13-0, in the second for a 22-10 halftime lead. The Mustangs then hung on as East Newton rallied to win the third quarter, 16-10, and the fourth, 18-17.
McDonald County's Cross Dowd, who scored nine of his team's 13 points with one 3-pointer in the second quarter, made four of eight free throw attempts in the fourth to finish with a game-high 18 points. Teammate Weston Gordon, who sank four of five free throws in the game, scored seven of his 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Rounding out the scoring for the Mustangs was Sterling Woods with eight points, Destyn Dowd six, Josh Pacheco five and Dalton McClain two.
Robert McFarland led the Patriots with 17 points.
UP NEXT
The Mustangs were scheduled to go to Cassville Wednesday night for a makeup game before traveling to Nevada on Friday for their final Big 8 West Conference matchup of the season.
Bennett Horne/McDonald County Press McDonald County senior Jaxson Harrell looks for room to put up a shot during his team's 63-43 win over Monett Tuesday night at Mustang Arena.