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Nevada boys finish season with second-place showing
By Joe Warren
Nevada Daily Mail
HARRISONVILLE, Mo. -- A five-point possession in the third quarter helped lift the Warrensburg Tigers past the Nevada Tigers in the Class 4, District 10 boys championship game Saturday, 51-42.
Top-seeded Warrensburg (17-7) and second seed Nevada (17-9) were nip and tuck in the first half, with the game tied at 17 at the break.
But D.J. Slifer gave Warrensburg some breathing room with a five-point swing early in the third period and Nevada was never able to completely recover.
Slifer stole the ball from Nevada senior Bryan Campbell, drove the length of the floor and was fouled while laying the ball in. Slifer missed the ensuing free throw, but the rebound was tipped to the perimeter, where the junior guard gathered it in and buried a 3-pointer to give Warrensburg a 26-19 lead. In such a highly contested game, the seven-point advantage might as well have been 20.
Warrensburg would eventually stretch the lead to 14 points in the fourth quarter, but Nevada showed resiliency by not giving in. The Tigers would close to within four thanks to a late rally, but Warrensburg hit enough free throws in the closing seconds to take the title.
"The key part of the ballgame was definitely the early part of the second half," Nevada head coach John McNeley said. "Slifer had the little run for them there and got it spread out."
Campbell spearheaded a comeback in the fourth quarter, scoring 15 of his game-high 25 points, including a pair of long 3-pointers.
Down 42-28 with four minutes to play, Campbell hit a long trey from the left wing to make it an 11-point game.
After a Nevada timeout Curtis Gary scored to put Warrensburg back up by 13, Drew Weatherly hit a jumper to make it 44-33.
Campbell scored after a defensive stop to make it 44-35, and Jordan Kerbs was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 1:09 to play. Kerbs hit two of the three free throws to make it a seven-point game, and Campbell followed a Warrensburg turnover with his second three and suddenly Nevada was within four with 42 seconds to play.
Ben Cox hit two from the charity stripe to put Warrensburg up 46-40 with 39 seconds left, and Campbell was fouled with 30.5 seconds to play, making both free throws for a 46-42 game.
That was all Nevada could do though, as Warrensburg went 9-for-12 from the line in the closing minutes to secure the win.
"We worked ourselves back into it and were a play or two away from being right there at the end," McNeley said.
Instead Nevada's season comes to an end and Warrensburg advances to the state playoff sectionals Wednesday against Willard.
McNeley was sad to see the season end, fighting back tears as he commented on what the team accomplished this year.
"I've received a bunch of comments about what these kids have done and it was nothing I did," McNeley said. "It was all these kids."
Slifer led Warrensburg with 19 points, while Brad Harper added 14 and Gary had 11.
Weatherly was the only other Nevada player in double figures with 11.