BY JARED PORTER
Webb City added another noteworthy bullet point to its 2020-21 boys basketball season.
After falling in an eight-point hole at halftime, the Cardinals took control of the second half to claim a 66-55 win over Joplin in the championship game of the Kaminsky Classic on Saturday at Joplin High School.
The triumph clinched Webb City's first title at the event in program history.
"I'm excited for our kids," fifth-year Webb City head coach Jason Horn said. "It's the first time we've won a regular-season (tournament) title since I've been here. We've knocked on the door for a couple of years … but just haven't been able to seal it. So I thought it was good for the program, good for the kids."
And helping the Cardinals secure their piece of program history was a dominant third quarter that shifted the game's momentum for good.
Joplin (6-3) scored the final 15 points of the first half to take a 31-23 lead into intermission. But after a 3-pointer by Always Wright gave the Eagles a 37-29 advantage early in the third quarter, the Cardinals (8-1) responded with a 17-2 run that put them up by seven points at the start of the fourth.
Webb City kept its foot on the gas in the final period and eventually held its largest lead of 18 points after Kaden Turner completed an and-1 opportunity with 1:28 remaining. Joplin then responded with a quick 6-1 surge to trim the deficit back to 11 points, but by then it was too late.
"We competed well in the second quarter and did some good things," Joplin coach Jeff Hafer said. "Games like these often come down to a lot of the game within the game — the 50-50 balls, the hustle, the charges, the willingness to do those things. They were much better and tougher than us in the third quarter in particular."
"I thought we showed a lot of composure," Horn said. "Getting down at half, shots weren't falling and our kids battled through it and showed some toughness. We did a good job in the second half of executing offensively and finishing plays."
However, it was Joplin that closed on a high note in the first half thanks to a combination of stingy defense and a second-quarter offensive burst.
A layup in traffic by Luke Brumit gave Webb City a 21-16 lead midway through the second period before Joplin scored 15 unanswered to end the half. The run began with backto- back triples by Always Wright and All Wright, and it ended with a layup off a steal by Malik Williams at the buzzer.
"That's part of the growth of our team right now," Hafer said. "We show (the type of team) we can be in spurts. I thought in the second quarter we were that team. But it's a four-quarter game, and that's going to give us an opportunity to learn and try to grow."
After shooting just 28.6% from the floor in the first half, Webb City made 15-of-27 shots in the second half to finish the game with a 40.3% shooting clip.
"You're not going to see us shoot the ball probably as poorly as we did that first half very often," Horn said. "And some of that has to do with them. They have some length and they bothered us at the rim a few times.
"You know, again, if we can get two feet in the paint, we've got guys that are really skilled at either finishing in traffic or passing through traffic. It's going to be pretty hard to keep us from scoring consistently for four quarters."
Brumit, a 6-foot-4 senior, led Webb City in scoring with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. He also added nine rebounds and three blocked shots.
"He's a program guy," Horn said of Brumit. "He was getting spot minutes last year, and he's one of those guys who kept working and getting better and waiting for his time. We thought he was going to be pretty good this year, and he's even been beyond our expectations up to this point."
Mekhi Garrard and Nickhai Howard, both named to the all-tournament team, finished with 12 and eight points, respectively. Garrard also tallied five steals while Alex Martin finished in double figures with 12 points.
"(Winning the tournament championship) was just very exciting," Howard said. "I know we've been working at it for a long time and for a lot of years. And beating Nevada (earlier in the week) was exciting as well. So I just had a good time playing with all of them."
Howard had eight rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot to go along with his eight points.
"I think he's the most complete player in Southwest Missouri," Horn said of Howard. "I don't care what conference, what school. He does a little bit of everything. He's a great rebounding guard, he handles the ball, he can drive and finish, he sees the floor well, he shoots the ball at a high clip."
Fellow all-tournament honorees All Wright and Always Wright led the scoring for Joplin with 19 and 12 points, respectively, while Dante Washington added 11 points.
Joplin and Webb City will meet again on Tuesday for a regular-season Central Ozark Conference matchup at the Cardinal Dome.
Joplin Globe 01/10/2021 (Used by permission)