Nevada bounces back with big win

Nevada senior Isaiah Colopy adds two points to his total during Friday game with the East Newton Patriots. Ralph Pokorny/Herald-Tribune

By Jason Peake

Herald-Tribune

NEVADA, Mo. -- One night after a tough loss on the road, the Nevada High School boys basketball team bounced back in a big way with a dominating 62-30 home victory over East Newton on Friday night at Wynn Gymnasium.

Chris Enriquez grabs a rebound during Friday's game.

The Tigers pulled away right from the start and never trailed in the contest.

Nevada's active man-to-man defense frustrated the Patriots all game long. East Newton had just eight field goals in the game, with none in the fourth quarter. The Patriots turned the ball over 20 times against Nevada's half-court pressure and did not make a three-point field goal the entire game.

"I thought we really guarded them effectively," Nevada Coach John McNeley said. "And that was definitely our intention."

East Newton senior Tucker Anderson had been scoring right around 20 points a game this season. The Tigers held him to seven.

"We wanted to give him a lot of attention," McNeley said. "And I thought we did a nice job on the perimeter all the way around. I thought we guarded excellently."

On the other end of the floor, Nevada's guards proved tough to contain. The NHS guards accounted for 54 of the team's 62 points and shot the ball well, making eight three-pointers for the game.

"They played well," McNeley said of his guards. "We knew we were going to face zone. We got good opportunities when we dribble-penetrated. We did a pretty good job of attacking it. And we shot it a little better tonight."

Senior guard Isaiah Colopy's 18 points led the way for the Tigers. Silas Smith scored 15 and Drew Bryson added 12.

Scoring at will against a 2-3 zone, Nevada led 20-9 after one quarter of play. The Tigers worked the ball around the perimeter patiently and knocked down high-percentage shots again and again.

Isaiah Colopy scored seven-straight points late in the frame. On the other end, East Newton turned it over eight times in the first quarter alone. The Tigers then used a 12-0 run in the second period to blow the game open. Nathan Colopy and Cory Kerbs both made layups after steals and Bryson drained a three-pointer to finish off the spurt. With a 17-7 second quarter, Nevada led 37-16 at intermission.

Smith and Bryson both hit three-pointers in the third period and Nevada's lead reached 29 at 54-25 entering the fourth quarter.

McNeley got everyone into the game, as the lead was never in doubt.

The Tigers improve to 6-6 on the season with the lopsided victory.

The win came one night after a tough 61-42 loss at Carthage.

"We guarded them well in the first half," McNeley said. "They got the ball to (Desmond) Buerge in the third quarter and then pulled away. The effort and approach was fine, but they just started making baskets. It was just one bad quarter. But Carthage has a good team and they're well-coached."

But on Friday night, the Tigers got back on track with the big win over East Newton.

"I thought we did an excellent job overall tonight," McNeley said. "East Newton had been on a roll a little bit. They were 7-5 coming in. They're a capable team. I really think this was an indication that we're taking steps in the right direction."

Notes: Nevada won the JV boys game 48-33.

It was Parents Night for the Tigers.

The week ahead for NHS

Nevada's high school basketball teams have a busy week ahead.

The NHS girls head to Bolivar on Monday, and the boys travel to Pittsburg on Tuesday to take on Colgan. Both the boys and girls then host McDonald County on Friday night. NHS Athletic Director Kevin McKinley said the schedule for Friday will be as follows: The JV girls game starts at 5 p.m. at NHS; the JV boys game starts at 6:15 at Nevada Middle School; the varsity girls game starts at around 6:30 at NHS, while the varsity boys will follow at approximately 8 p.m.

Nevada 62, East Newton 30

EN 9 7 9 5 -- 30

NE 20 17 17 8 -- 62

Nevada: Bubba Banes 3 0-0 6, Isaiah Colopy 7 2-2 18, Alex Payne 0 0-2 0, Silas Smith 6 0-0 15, Drew Bryson 5 0-0 12, Jamin Brandt 0 2-2 2, Joseph Ferry 1 0-0 2, Nathan Colopy 1 0-0 2, Cory Kerbs 2 0-5 5, Lane Ketterman 0 0-0 0, Chris Enriquez 0 0-0 0, Austin Herdliska 0 0-0 0, Austin Gerling 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 (8) 4-11 62. Fouls 21 (Brandt fouled out). Rebounds 28 (Brandt 5). Turnovers 9. Assists 14 (Bryson 4). Steals 11 (Payne 2, Banes 2).

East Newton: Swartz 4, McCulley 2, Clark 1, Anderson 7, Thomas 2, Hansen 8, Harrell 6. Totals 8 (0) 14-22 30. Three-pointers: None. Fouls 13. Turnovers 20.

JV: Nevada 48-33.