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January 10, 2009

Second-half rally lifts Cards past Joplin

Laveroni’s 30 points spark Webb City; Carl Junction defeats Neosho in overtime

By Anvil Welch

awelch@joplinglobe.com

Carl Junction and Webb City will settle fifth place today in the Kaminsky Classic in the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center at Missouri Southern State University.

They claimed topsy-turvy consolation wins on Friday to open the second session in the annual event.

Carl Junction, although it squandered an 18-point lead in the third period, recovered to beat Neosho 64-63 in overtime.

Webb City, outscoring Joplin 22-8 in the third quarter, prevailed 53-48 behind 6-foot-5 senior Trey Laveroni’s 30 points.

Laveroni scored 14 points in the third as the Cardinals erased a 30-22 halftime deficit in beating Joplin for the second time this season.

“Trey (Laveroni) played one of his best games,” Cardinal coach Dave Sherer said. “He played within himself. He’s starting to understand what we want out of him.

“Trey actually is very unselfish and tonight played some without the ball,” Sherer said.

“I thought Joplin became very stagnant in the third quarter against our 1-3-1 zone,” Sherer said. “We rebounded very well out of it.”

Webb City built its lead to nine points in the decisive period with Laveroni stringing together a three-point play, a free throw and a follow to make it 44-35.

Matt McCreary sank a 3 at the end of the period to draw the Eagles within 44-38 entering the final.

Joplin drew within two points at least three times in the fourth to make it a tantalizing finish for Eagle coach Tim Spiers.

“We had done so well against their man-to-man defense. They caught us a little off guard with the zone,” Spiers said.

“We made two terrible turnovers at the beginning of the third quarter,” Spiers said. “They were able to score four points from the foul line and cut the deficit in half.”

Laveroni was the only Webb City player scoring in double figures. But several of the younger Cardinals had important baskets and 6-8 senior Parker Graham, whose rebounding helped in the third-quarter surge, nailed two valuable late free throws.

Joplin received 18 points from McCreary and 16 from 6-3 junior Derek Stokes. Stokes popped in three 3s.

Carl Junction, which led 44-26 late in the third period, won the game in the overtime on a trey by 6-1 junior Jansen Adams with 16 seconds remaining.

The Wildcats then were called for a walking violation with just 5.5 seconds left. However, they forced a jump with possession going to them at 3.7. But their last-second jumper for the victory bounced off the rim.

Said Carl Junction coach Ryan Odaffer: “It’s a great win for us. I’m excited. The kids are excited. We really needed it.

“It’s a little disappointing that we started so well and finished poorly,” Odaffer said. “But you have to give credit to coach (Ben) Ponce’s kids. Neosho had a great comeback and didn’t quit. We didn’t quit, either, after we let them back into the game.”

Neosho received 21 points from 5-10 sophomore Alex Wise, whose basket with 21 seconds left, sent the game into the extra session, and 19 from 6-0 junior Michael Lowe.

Balanced Carl Junction got 16 from 6-0 junior Jacob Stevenson (who had 3 treys), 13 apiece from Adams and 5-6 junior Jacob Bennett and 12 from 6-3 senior Austin Osborn.

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