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Nevada muscles past Monett, 59-45, extends win streak to 10
MONETT — The Nevada Tigers are once again streaking.
Tuesday night’s 59-45 Big 8 Conference West division victory over the Monett Cubs extended Nevada’s win streak to 10 games, their longest since they won 18 in a row two seasons ago.
The Tigers, however, were slow out of the gate, as Monett led 7-2 midway through the opening frame. Nevada trailed 14-9 at the conclusion of the first quarter, then opened the second on a 10-2 blitz, as a pair of three’s from Logan and Lane McNeley pushed their lead to 19-16.
The Tigers eventually grabbed a 23-18 halftime advantage.
Nevada came out red-hot in the second half, opening the third on a 7-0 spurt as Matt Thompson’s finger-roll lay-in put them up 30-18.
Third quarter triples from Logan Applegate, Dalton Gayman, and Lane McNeley swelled Nevada’s advantage to 42-26 through three quarters of play.
A Gayman close-range bucket midway through the fourth gave Nevada its biggest lead of the evening at 54-35 as the Tigers cruised to victory.
“We came out pretty rusty,” said Nevada head coach Shaun Gray. “We were a little lethargic on both ends of the floor. We allowed Monett to get some easier looks on their end of the floor than we probably would have liked. But I’m proud of the way we responded.”
Added Gray: “After the slow start we started defending much, much better, holding them to four points in the second, and eight in the third. But we have to do a better job of denying the ball into the post.”
Gray said the Big 8 West clash against a struggling Monett squad had all the hallmarks of a classic “trap game.”
“This was a road game, after coming off a big win at home last Friday,” began Gray. “I think sometimes you can just get kind of complacent.”
Continued Gray: “It was a long road trip, the boys find out before the game there would be no school tomorrow. And it was a big, but real quiet, gym. So I think it just kind of set-up as a trap game. We had to figure out how to create our own energy, so-to-speak, and we were able to do that.”
Thompson and Gayman paced Nevada with 16 points apiece, while Lane McNeley chipped in a dozen.
“In the second half, and especially in the third quarter, we were getting more inside touches,” said Gray, as his squad finally cracked the Cubs’ 2-3 zone. “We started cutting more off the post. Monett did a good job of packing the middle, and that made it tough for us to score inside.”
Said Gray: “The cutting against the zone, and ball-screen action against their man defense, really opened things up for us, and helped us to kind of get things going.”
Gray said he was thrilled with the crisp ball movement displayed by Nevada.
“We passed the ball well in the second half,” he said. “(Forward) Dalton Gayman passed it well. And Matthew Thompson and Lane McNeley really cut well. And I think that’s why we got better offensively, — cutting and the passing.”
Noted Gray: “Logan Applegate was a distributor as well. Coming off ball-screens, they were really making sure he couldn’t score, so he was a passer (tonight).”
Gray said he was also pleased with his club’s defensive effort.
“We started getting stops,” said the fifth-year head coach. “Any time you get a stop, pull down a board, and get out in transition — that helps things as well. And I’m proud of the fact that we limited (sharpshooter) Jackson Spencer to just one 3-point field goal on the night.”
The victory ups Nevada to 14-5 overall, and 4-0 in the Big 8 West division.
JV and freshman
In the junior varsity contest against, Nevada (5-12) raced out to a 27-3 lead, en route to a 34-18 victory over Monett. Junior forward Matt Thorp led Nevada with a game-high 12 points.
In separate action Tuesday night, the Nevada freshman squad was derailed by host Bolivar, 48-33. Evan Rea was a major bright spot for the Tigers, pouring in a team-high 20 points.
Along with the Nevada varsity and JV squads, the Nevada Middle School eighth-grade team (5-3) was also in action at Monett Tuesday night, and came away with a 37-28 victory. Nevada’s eighth-grade B-team, meanwhile, was edged by Monett, 30-27.
Up next
Nevada returns to the court Friday, and will look to remain unbeaten in Big 8 West-play, as the Tigers match-up with Cassville on the road, in a varsity double-dip.