Games prepare CMS squads for tourney

The Cassville Middle School boys basketball teams played games against East Newton, Mt. Vernon and Joplin North in recent weeks.

The Cassville eighth grade team recorded a heartbreaking 37-38 loss to East Newton and a 40-45 double overtime loss to Mt. Vernon before dominating Joplin North 45-10.

In the game against East Newton, Trey Rose and Dusty Hayes led the squad, scoring 12 and 9 points respectively.

Ricky Nichols was Cassville's leading point-getter against Mt. Vernon, putting up a team-leading 14 points. Rose also contributed 11 points while Darren Nance tallied 5 points.

The young Wildcats received balanced scoring in the win over Joplin North. Top scorers were: Hayes with 19, Josh Sexton with 7 and Nichols and Nance with 6 each.

"The eighth grade has continued to improve and all their hard work paid off with a victory coming at Joplin North," said the CMS coaches. "We are very proud of the eighth grade team for never quitting and playing as a team."

The Wildcat seventh graders had a rough stretch, falling 27-28 to East Newton, 19-30 to Mt. Vernon and 43-45 to Joplin North.

Against East Newton, leading scorers for Cassville were Garrett Kirk with 11 points and Joey McCracken, Logan Scott, Jordan Shore and Cole Beagle with 4 points each.

In the Mt. Vernon game, Shore led Wildcat scoring with 10 points while Kirk added 9. Against Joplin, Kirk had an impressive 20-point performance while Joey Haney added 8 points and Logan Scott and Shore contributed 6 points each.

"The seventh grade basketball team has continued to play hard," said CMS coaches. "They have played two very close games with a chance to win both and just came up a little short. We are looking to build off what was learned to change the outcome."

This week, the CMS squads are competing in the Big 8 Conference Tournament.