Senior-heavy Tigers finish year

Logan Moore was one of eight seniors that carried the Nevada Tigers to a 16-10 record this season. Nevada also won their own tournament, the Tiger Classic, for the first time in school history.

When the 2005-'06 Nevada Tigers hit the court with eight seniors and two juniors, it was with high expectations.

"I don't think I've ever coached a team with eight seniors," Nevada head coach John McNeley said. "It's really a special group. It's a varied group with a lot of different personalities and different styles of play."

McNeley's job was to try and mold the team into a cohesive unit, something he felt was accomplished.

"You can't always play at the level you'd like to play every ballgame," McNeley said. "But you can always do it together and I felt like this team did that."

Nevada was gunning for a conference title going into the season, and while they were unable to unseat Webb City for that honor, they did accomplish some magnificent feats.

To start, the Tigers reached the finals of the Carthage tournament, finishing second behind Class 4's fourth-ranked Carl Junction Bulldogs on Dec. 3.

Nevada then turned around and won their own tournament, the Tiger Classic, for the first time in school history on Jan. 28.

Some other highlights of the season included wins over El Dorado Springs on Dec. 9, Fort Scott on Dec. 13, and Butler on Jan. 2.

The Tigers made it a clean sweep of their four closest neighbors by dominating Lamar on the road Feb. 13, 66-50.

There were also records set, or at least tied. Nevada's J.R. Mills tied a state record for most 3-pointers in a half against McDonald County on Feb. 10. Mills dropped eight from beyond the arc before halftime, scoring 29 of his career-high 31 points in the first two quarters of play.

Mills would tie his career high against Webb City a week later, Feb. 17, despite only making one trey. In that game he went a remarkable 20-for-22 from the free-throw line.

While Mills was the leading scorer on the team, the other seven seniors contributed as well. Seth Owings, Nathan Gragg and Justin Reed started each game for the Tigers. Opie Tipton, Eric Good, Logan Moore and Dakota Bright joined junior Drew Weatherly as a more than capable supporting cast off the bench.

Mills and junior Bryan Campbell were named to the All-Southwest Conference first team, joining Webb City with two first-team selections on the six-man squad.

For Campbell, Nevada's best ballhandler and best defender, it was the third straight year he's been selected. Mills was a second-team pick as a junior.

McNeley said he couldn't have asked for anything more from his team, which will be hit hard by graduation this May.

"It's a group that's done more for me than I could ever repay to them," the coach said emotionally after Friday's final game. "I love the kids that I coach. We ask more of our players than many coaches I know ask of their players."

McNeley said the hardest and best part of his job came after Nevada fell to Webb City in the district semifinals Friday.

"It's the saddest part of being a basketball coach," he said, "going into the locker room for the last time (to address the team)."