Lady Wildcats downed by Nevada, go 6-2 in Big 8

The Cassville girls basketball team welcomed the Nevada Tigers to town on Friday night in a double header with the boys team and celebrating senior night. Cassville struggled on both sides of the ball in the first half, trailing by 5 after one quarter and down 15 at the half. The Lady Wildcats continued to fight in the second half and ended up dropping the game, 54-40. With the loss, Cassville moved to 17-7 on the year and finished Big 8 play with a 6-2 record with losses to McDonald County and Nevada, who will match up with each other later this week to determine the conference champion.

7th grade wins Big 8; 8th grade takes second

Cassville’s seventh- and eighth-grade teams had a great showing in the Big 8 Tournament to close out the season. The seventh-grade put together an outstanding run, defeating Monett (47-10), Mt. Vernon (39-12), and McDonald County (38-32) to finish the tournament 3-0 and earn the title of Big 8 Champions. The team played outstanding defense throughout the tournament and finished conference play undefeated, ending the season with an overall record of 14-3. The eighth-grade also had an impressive tournament run, earning wins over Nevada (51-19) and McDonald County (38-26) to advance to the championship game. They battled hard in a tightly contested final but came up just short, falling to Monett, 45-43, in a heartbreaker to finish as Big 8 runner-up. The eighth grade closed the season with an overall record of 15-2. “Both groups represented our program with great effort, toughness and teamwork,” said Coach Trey Dalton. “We are very proud of the way our players competed and the success they achieved this season.”