Tigers beat Mount Vernon at home

On the night of yet another Nevada High School Wall of Fame induction, the Nevada Tigers varsity basketball squad once again matched its best offensive showing in recent memory in a 71-62 victory over Mount Vernon Saturday afternoon. "(It was a) hard fought game, kind of the game that I anticipated it to be," Tigers head coach John McNeley said.

The Tigers had already attempted once before to take on the Mountaineers, but winter weather put a stop to that, forcing the game to be pushed back. That and more rescheduling resulted in Saturday's contest being highlighted by the last Nevada High School Wall of Fame induction at halftime of the varsity contest.

Led by Candy Mason's then-record-breaking performances, the 1994 Nevada Lady Tigers track team won the Missouri Class 3A state title by nine points over second place Jefferson City Helias. That state title was the first in any girls' sport since Nevada High School introduced girls' athletics in 1976 and was the first team championship in any sport since Nevada's golf team won it all in the 1930s.

Mason was an individual champion that year in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 44.08 seconds, but set what was then the state record earlier in the meet at 43.6. That time of 43.6 stood as the state record at the time, but has since been broken.

Mason also won the high jump with a height of 5 feet, 6 inches and the 100-meter hurdles in 15.4 seconds and the shot put. Mason's high jump was just 1 1/4 inches short of a state record at the time.

Mason finished her high school career as a six-time state champion and placed in 15 of 16 possible events at the state level over her four years. Mason went on to become the first female athlete in University of Kansas history to become a five-time All-American and did so in the pole vault and heptathlon.

She was also a three-time captain for the Jayhawks and an Academic All-American. Mason was a five-time Big 12 Conference champion and was also a NCAA Woman of the Year nominee and Big 12 Performer of the Year in 1999. She qualified for two Olympic trials during her college career and at the time, held four school records, two of which have since been broken.

Ashley Wysong -- another member of the '94 team -- was a four-time state champion in the 200- and 400-meter dashes and was a 14-time All-State selection in 1994, '95, '96 and '97. She was an undefeated conference, district and sectional champion in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes in 1994-'97 as well. She currently holds the school records in all three events.

After High School, Wysong went on to become a six-time NCAA All-America and a National Champion. She was also a University of Missouri Outstanding Track and Field Performer in 1998-2001. Wysong currently holds six University of Missouri school records and two Big 12 Conference records.

Wysong also has the distinction of being a Nike Athletics Professional Track and Field Athlete from 2002-'04 and was a U.S. Olympic Trials semifinalist in 2000 and 2004. She was a member of the U.S. National team in 2000.

The Tigers came out of the locker room for the start of Saturday's contest looking a little flat compared to the high-energy style of play the Mountaineers brought to the table and it showed as the two squads found themselves in a very tough and even battle in the opening half. Despite their lack of energy in the first 16 minutes of the contest, however, the Tigers still outscored the Mountaineers in each of the first two quarters to take a 35-31 lead into the locker room at halftime.

"We did not match their energy level in the first half," McNeley said. "And we were really pretty lucky to be where we were at halftime because we played without Bub (Banes) and without Joe (Ferry), which we intentionally did."

To the surprise of many fans, however, the Tigers weren't playing the opening half without Daniel Potter. Potter was injured last week during a game when he rolled his ankle, but was able to compete Saturday and finished the night as one of five players in double figures for the Tigers.

"I thought we played well," McNeley said. "(I) was pleased with our kids."

Despite being slightly limited by his injured ankle, Potter finished with a team-high 13 points. Banes and Isaiah Colopy weren't far behind with 12 points and Ferry and Cory Kerbs each finished with 11. To add just a little more to what was one of his most productive games of the year, Banes also finished with 11 rebounds.

As a team, the Tigers dominated nearly every statistical category as they outrebounded the Mountaineers, 39-24, missed just four of 19 free throws and shot a staggering 49 percent from the field. "It makes you look better when you make shots and we made some shots," McNeley said. "The ball went in pretty well for us tonight."

Shane Williams led the offensive effort for Mount Vernon as he finished the night with 19 points to lead all scorers, followed by Kaden Jones with 14 and Zane Phillips with 11. As a team, the Mountaineers shot just 19-for-65 (29 percent) from the field, but were able to stay in the game by winning the turnover battle, 18-7.

Nevada's junior varsity had similar luck on the night as they found themselves in a tough battle of their own. The Tigers eventually won the game by a final score of 56-48 in a contest that was much closer than the final margin might imply.

With that win, the Tigers improved to 7-11 on the year and are set to get back into action tonight, when they head back out on the road to take on Kansas City Northeast. The JV contest is scheduled to tip off at 4:30 p.m.