Nevada repeats!

Nevada senior Drew Weatherly drops in two of his 12 points as the Tigers beat Carthage Saturday, 51-37, to win their second consecutive Tiger Classic championship.

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

NEVADA, Mo. -- The Nevada Tigers grew up Saturday.

With their best player in foul trouble for much of the game, and the upstart Carthage Tigers coming into the championship of the Nevada Classic playing their best basketball in years, Nevada's Tigers showed they are more than a one man show.

Nevada also proved that they can play with anybody, when they take the right approach.

The hosts used a suffocating defense and well-designed gameplan to take Carthage out of their comfort zone, dominating their way to a 51-37 victory at a raucous Nevada Middle School.

"In terms of 32 minutes, kids playing to their potential, this was a great win for us," Nevada head coach John McNeley said. "It wasn't just a game played close to our potential, it was one where we played right at that level for an extended period."

Playing the entire tournament at NMS because of the leaky Wynn Gymnasium roof, Nevada (10-5) took advantage of the tighter confines, feeding off the louder than usual crowd while giving the hometown fans plenty to yell about.

Nevada played smart and aggressive, dictating the pace of play on both ends of the floor. Two plays best demonstrated how Nevada's players used their heads to get the most out of each situation.

The first came as Nevada was in the midst of a gamebreaking 12-2 run that lasted most of the third period. Leading 34-23, James Tumm grabbed a defensive rebound and threw a pass the length of the court to a streaking Dan Lovinger, who layed it in to put Nevada up by 13 and send the crowd into a frenzy. The play capped the run and maximized the energy that had been building in the arena throughout the game. It also prompted Carthage head coach Steve Ray to call a timeout, elevating the decibel level even more.

The second play happened late in the game, with Nevada up by 15 and less than two minutes remaining. Spencer Thompson earned his fourth steal of the game, breaking out in front of the Carthage defenders with the possibility of a layup. Sensing the taller defenders closing in from behind, Thompson decided to pull the ball out, allowing Nevada to continue to milk the clock and secure the win.

"I knew our kids were ready to play tonight," McNeley said after the game. "I thought we'd play well, but I didn't know if we could beat Carthage."

Carthage (10-7) was fresh off a 54-51 upset of Girard (Kan.) in pool play to earn a spot in the title game. Not only was Girard unbeaten prior to their loss to Carthage, they were ranked fourth in the state in Kansas.

Carthage had looked every bit the part of a state contender in the Girard game, utilizing their height (three starters are at least 6-4) to control the boards and relying on the offensive prowess of 6-5 junior guard Jason Adams, who had 27 points and five 3-pointers against the Trojans.

Nevada controlled Adams most of the game. Despite facing a 2-3 zone the entire contest, Adams was unable to get an open shot off, as Nevada defenders were waiting with a hand in his face every time he caught the ball.

The lack of room frustrated the all-tournament selection, as he finished with nearly as many turnovers (four) and just as many fouls (five) as he did field goals. On top of that, none of Adams' 12 points were from the perimeter.

Nevada also did something they hadn't done much of this season -- outrebounded an opponent.

After Carthage had used the glass as probably the single biggest factor in their Girard win, Nevada won the windex award for the night by pulling down 23 boards, compared to 20 for the visitors.

Just as importantly, the Tigers took care of the basketball most of the game, having only seven turnovers in the first three quarters before getting a little sloppy with the game in hand late. They finished with 16 turnovers in the game, still fewer than Carthage had (17).

All this happened with senior Bryan Campbell spending most of the second half on the bench. The 6-1 all-tournament pick earned his fourth foul with 4:59 to play in the third quarter, then fouled out with five minutes to go in the game.

The rest of the team stepped up in Campbell's absence.

Lovinger and Trevor Hinkle played probably their best games of the season coming off the bench. Lovinger finished with six points, while Hinkle had two points and four rebounds.

Brandon Davis also played well in a relief role, while Thompson and Drew Weatherly each had two of their better games.

Weatherly scored 12 points and played tremendous defense, also earning a spot of the all-tournament team, while Thompson had six points and five rebounds to go with his steals.

Campbell came out of the gates strong, scoring 12 of his game-high 15 points in the first half before being saddled with foul problems.

Nevada took a slim 22-21 lead into halftime, then used the big third period to control the game.

The tournament win was the second consecutive for Nevada, after coming up empty the first six years of the event.

In other games Saturday, Girard (10-1) used a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull away from Kansas City's Renaissance Academy (7-7) Warriors in the third place game, winning 59-49.

Darian Kelly scored seven of his game-high 19 points during the final period, and Tanner Poppe added 18 in the victory. Both Kelly and Poppe were named to the all-tournament team.

Dominique Johnson, the sixth and final member of the all-tourney team, scored 18 and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Warriors.

In the fifth place game, Kansas City's Southeast Knights (9-6) dismantled the El Dorado Springs Bulldogs, 53-23. Tyrone Tanner had 13 points to lead the Knights, while Ryan Stokes added 11.

Michael Thomason's eight points led El Do (6-12).