The first round of action is complete at the 76th Annual Greenwood Blue and Gold Boys Basketball Tournament on the Missouri State University campus.
The opening round games in the Blue Division took place at Hammons Student Center, with Gold Division contests at JQH Arena.
Blue Division:
In the Blue Division, the top seeded Nixa Eagles set a Blue and Gold Tournament record with 19 three pointers in an 86-24 drubbing of Mt. Vernon.
The Eagles beat the previous tournament record of 15 treys, set by Marshfield on December 26th, 2012 in a 72-32 win over Mountain Grove.
Senior Colin Ruffin drained eight three pointers, just one short of the individual record of nine. Ruffin led all players with 30 points.
Kael Combs put in 19 for the Eagles, hitting four from long distance.
For the Mountaineers, Kai Brown scored ten of his team’s 24 points.
Nixa led 16-7 after one period, 39-13 at the half, and 69-20 after three quarters, with a turbo clock in the fourth quarter.
Eagles Coach Jay Osborne, the winningest coach in Blue and Gold history, is now 76-25 overall in the tournament.
The Marshfield Blue Jays pull off the first upset in the Blue Division, edging fifth seeded Skyline 50-44 at Hammons Center.
Marshfield held a narrow 27-26 advantage at the half, and led 39-34 after three quarters before pulling away in the game’s final two minutes.
Junior Zack Mings led the Blue Jays with 15 points, while teammate Peyton McBride added 12.
Lawson Beem hit five three pointers and scored 20 points to pace the Tigers.
Eighth seeded Fair Grove downed Ash Grove 68-61 in a Blue Division contest.
The Eagles held a 27-22 advantage at the half, and the Pirates stayed within striking distance, down by eight after three quarters.
Devin Carroll scored 24 points to lead the Eagles, with Brady Nicholson’s 18 tops for Ash Grove.
The Fightin’ Irish from Springfield Catholic, seeded fourth in the Blue Division, had no problems with Clever, winning 73-46.
Zach Howell led Catholic with a 30 point scoring performance, with Grant Pellham putting in 22 to pace Clever.
The Branson Pirates held off the Mountain Grove Panthers 61-51 to advance to the quarterfinals in the Blue Division.
The two teams were tied 10-10 after one quarter, and Branson carried a 25-24 lead into halftime.
The Pirates went ahead by three, 42-39 after three quarters, before pulling away down the stretch.
Ethan Jones scored 16 points to lead Branson, with Kade Goodwin adding 14.
Kaden Bruce’s 21 points led the Panthers.
Springfield Kickapoo, seeded second in the Blue Division, rolled to an 81-21 win over Houston, with a running clock in the final period.
The Chiefs held a 50-15 lead at the half, and 76-17 at the end of the third period.
Brayden Shorter led all scorers with 21 points for the Chiefs, while Hunter McKinnery and Tanner Lee led Houston with six points apiece.
The Hartville Eagles, seeded sixth in the Blue Division, pulled away in the third quarter to defeat Reeds Spring 53-33.
The Eagles held a slim 12-10 advantage after one quarter and 25-18 at the half before extending the margin to 21 points after three quarters, 44-23.
Jacob Ballard, Eric Wilson, and Logan Simpson each sored 12 points to lead the Eagles, with Ty Cooper, Tanner Hirschi, and Caden Wiest scoring nine points apiece for the Wolves.
The Willard Tigers closed out the Blue Division first round with a 71-50 win over the West Plains Zizzers.
The Tigers, seeded third, held a 38-28 lead at the intermission, then extended it to 17 points at the end of three quarters.
Haden Brown led the way for Willard with 18 points, and Sean Tinsley scored 17 to lead West Plains.
Gold Division:
The Central Bulldogs have pulled off the first upset of a seeded team in the tournament, downing eighth seeded Willow Springs 61-42 in the Gold Division.
The Bears led the Bulldogs 23-18 at the half, but Central stormed back to go up 38-34 after three quarters.
Central went ahead by as many as 13 points in the final eight minutes before winning by seven.
Sophomore Antonio Starks-Fewell led the Bulldogs with 16 points, while Keion Epps addede 14.
Scottie Osborn scored 23 to pace the Bears.
The Bolivar Liberators, seeded first in the Gold, had no problems with Aurora, winning 70-40 at The Q.
The Liberators jumped out to a 23-9 lead after one quarter and 36-15 at the half.
Aurora managed to keep the running clock from going into effect for much of the fourth quarter as they kept the difference just under 30 points.
Junior Kyle Pock led the way for the Liberators with 23 points, while Lukas Gabani added 15.
Jaesik Friggle’s 17 points led the way for the Houn’ Dawgs.
The host Greenwood Blue Jays extend their Blue and Gold winning streak to nine games with a 66-43 win over the Spokane Owls.
The Blue Jays led 20-11 after one period and extended the advantage to 40-21 at the half, and coasted in the second half of the contest.
Nicholas Burri scored 23 points to lead Darren Taylor’s squad, with sophomore Tanner Jones adding 19.
The Strafford Indians, seeded fourth in the Gold Division, took an early 10-0 lead over the Camdenton Lakers and never looked back, pulling away in the second half to win 60-36.
The Indians held a 29-22 lead at the half, but went ahead by 11, 41-30 after three quarters.
Seth Soden scored 12 points to lead the Indians, with Aaron Poage’s 12 points leading the way for the Lakers.
The Logan Rogersville Wildcats advance with a 53-46 Gold Division win over the Crane Pirates.
The 7th seeded Wildcats trailed 11-9 after the first quarter, but bounced back to take a 25-21 lead at halftime and went up 36-29 after three quarters.
J.J. O’Neal led the Wildcats in scoring with 20 points, while Taylor Calzaretta’s 21 points led the Pirates.
Second seeded Ozark topped Lebanon 78-39 to advance to the quarterfinals in the Gold Division.
The two teams were tied 15-15 after the opening quarter, but Ozark opened up a 42-28 lead at the half and 66-36 after three periods.
Tyler Harmon scored 19 points to lead the Tigers, with Caleb Ray scoring 15 for the Yellow Jackets.
Sixth seeded Republic led Buffalo 26-2 after the first eight minutes of action and coasted to a 76-25 win over the Bison.
Jordan Douglas had 14 points to lead the Tigers, with Camron Portis scoring ten of Buffalo’s 25 points.
The Ava Bears wrapped up first round Gold Division play with a 58-39 win over Stockton at The Q.
The Bears led throughout, taking a 31-21 lead at halftime, then going up 46-32 after three quarters.
Senior Andrew Dalton put on a scoring performance for the Bears with 31 points.
Layne Colvin and Jay Baxter had 12 points each to pace the Tigers.
Blue Division (Hammons Student Center):
Here are the scores of opening round games, with seeds in parenthesis:
Final: (8) Fair Grove 68, Ash Grove 61
Final: (1) Nixa 86, Mt. Vernon 24 (Nixa sets Blue and Gold Tournament record with 19 3’s)
Final: Marshfield 50, (5) Skyline 44
Final: (4) Catholic 73, Clever 46
Final: Branson 61, Mountain Grove 51
Final: (2) Springfield Kickapoo 81, Houston 21
Final: (6) Hartville 53, Reeds Spring 33
Final: (3) Willard 71, West Plains 50
Gold Division (JQH Arena):
Final: Springfield Central 61, (8) Willow Springs 42
Final: (1) Bolivar 70, Aurora 40
Final: (5) Greenwood 66, Spokane 43
Final: (4) Strafford 60, Camdenton 36
Final: (7) Logan-Rogersville 53, Crane 46 (official scorebook has Crane for 46 instead of 44)
Final: (2) Ozark 78, Lebanon 39
FInal: (6) Republic 76, Buffalo 25
Final: (3) Ava 58, Stockton 39
Here’s the schedule of games for Tuesday’s quarterfinal round at the 76th Annual Greenwood Blue and Gold Tournament:
Blue Division Quarterfinal Round (JQH Arena):
(1) Nixa vs. (8) Fair Grove 9:30 a.m.
(4) Catholic vs. Marshfield 11:00 a.m.
(7) Branson vs. (2) Springfield Kickapoo 12:30 p.m.
(6) Hartville vs. (3) Willard 2:00 p.m.
Gold Division Quarterfinal Round (JQH Arena):
(1) Bolivar vs. Springfield Central 5:00 p.m.
(4) Strafford vs. (5) Greenwood 6:30 p.m.
(2) Ozark vs. (7) Rogersville 8:00 p.m.
(3) Ava vs. (6) Republic 9:30 p.m.
Blue Division Consolation Bracket (Hammons Student Center):
Ash Grove vs. Mt. Vernon 9:30 a.m.
(5) Skyline vs. Clever 11:00 a.m.
Mountain Grove vs. Houston 12:30 p.m.
Reeds Spring vs. West Plains 2:00 p.m.
Gold Division Consolation Bracket (Hammons Student Center):
(8) Willow Springs vs. Aurora 5:00 p.m.
Spokane vs. Camdenton 6:30 p.m.
Crane vs. Lebanon 8:00 p.m.
Buffalo vs. Stockton 9:30 p.m.
The tournament continues with the semifinals on Wednesday and the final round on Thursday.