BY JASON PEAKE
WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Parsons Vikings remained undefeated, but it was far from easy.
Webb City's late rally fell short, as Parsons held on late for a 71-66 victory on Saturday night in an entertaining finale of the 4-States Challenge inside the Cardinal Dome.
"That was a great game by both teams in a beautiful facility," Parsons coach Anthony Houk said. "We're blessed to be able to come over here and play on a Saturday night. Webb City has a lot of weapons. We needed to play a team like that. I'm proud of the way we battled. Our kids played tough the whole game even though we were overmatched physically."
The Vikings, currently ranked third in Kansas' Class 3A, hiked their record to 7-0.
"Parsons is a really good team and they're hard to stay in front of," Webb City coach Jason Horn said. "They do a good job of driving and kicking it out to shooters or getting into the paint. They make you pay if your hands aren't active."
After trailing by seven entering the fourth quarter, the hosts had a chance to tie the game with 47 seconds left. But the Cardinals were unable to complete the comeback.
"I have to give our kids credit," Horn said. "They kept playing hard and we had a chance. We didn't execute very well for a lot of the game. We got disorganized. We could have gotten better looks. But we're working through some growing pains."
All five starters reached double figures for Parsons of the Southeast Kansas League. Pierce Thomas, a 6-foot-7 senior, led the way with a career-high 18 points, while Daquan Johnson had 14 points and 12 boards. Zeke Lyons scored 13, Dariq Williams had 12 and Julius Smith-Reece added 11.
The Vikings made 28-of-65 field goal attempts and out-rebounded Webb City 46-33.
Sophomore Cohl Vaden led Webb City with 18 points on 5-of-12 shooting, including three 3-pointers. Terrell Kabala scored 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting before fouling out.
Also for Webb City, Nickhai Howard contributed nine points and five assists, while Gary Clinton had eight points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals, who made 24-of-61 field goal attempts, including 9-of-23 3-pointers.
Webb City led 23-21 after one period, but Parsons finished the first half on a 9-0 run for a 41-36 halftime advantage.
Shooting a high percentage from the floor, the Vikings extended their lead to 57-50 by the end of the third quarter.
"Both teams were going back and forth making plays," Houk said. "I thought both teams played great defense. I think when we went to a zone trap it threw them off a little bit. Our kids executed it well."
The Vikings led by eight in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals kept coming.
A trey from Trenton Hayes, a hoop in transition from Tanner Rogers and four free throws from Vaden cut Webb City's deficit to one with 1:28 left.
Johnson hit two charities for the Vikings to make it 69-66.
After the teams traded turnovers, the Cardinals had the ball with 47 seconds left, but the hosts were unable to knock down a shot from the perimeter.
Parsons' Johnson made two more free throws in the final seconds for the final margin.
The Cardinals, who have had just six practices with a full squad, will benefit from playing a solid team like the Vikings, Horn said after the game.
"We've tried to schedule as many good opponents as we can because we think it prepares us when the district tournament rolls around," Horn said. "This one was good for us."
The Cardinals are now off until they attend Joplin's Kaminsky Classic on Jan. 9.
Joplin Globe 12/22/2019 (Used by permission)