VB girls repeat in Neosho Holiday Classic

NEOSHO, Mo. – The usual suspects squared off for the girls championship of the 62nd annual Neosho Holiday Classic on Friday night at Neosho High School as defending champion Van Buren took on 2013 and 2014 Black Division champion Neosho. The Pointers kept the crown. There was no nail-biting in this one. Carrying over its production from Thursday’s hot-handed beatdown of St. Joseph Lafayette, Van Buren opened on a 13-3 run against Neosho and never trailed in a 78-36 victory. It didn’t seem to matter where they shot it from the floor as buckets kept falling for the Pointers (9-3). They shot 55 percent in the first quarter, hitting 6-of-11 shots, before upping it to 69 percent (11-of-16) in the second and finishing the game at 62 percent (33-for-53). Van Buren had three players in double figures and a 40-19 lead by halftime. “Just thrilled with our kids’ focus and being ready to come out and play,” Pointers coach Chris Bryant said. “We played well (Thursday) night against Lafayette and they came out tonight and played at the same level.” Lani Snowden led the charge for the Pointers. The 5-foot-8 senior guard had 12 points by the 5:34 mark of the second quarter, 14 at the half and finished with a game-high 19 of 7-of-10 shooting, including four 3-pointers. Teammate Jamilyn Kinney, who had 12 points and six assists at halftime, picked up six more assists in the second half and finished with a double-double (12 points, 12 assists). Halie Jennen, who had 10 points at the half, finished with 17 for the Pointers, while Taylar Sutton netted 10. Leading 73-34, Van Buren began emptying its bench with 2:46 remaining in the game. “That’s why this weekend’s been so good for us,” said Bryant, adding his team strictly focuses on shooting for as much as 40 minutes per practice. “We hang our hats on our shooting. We have to shoot the ball well to beat the better teams in our league and those we run against once state tournament comes. We’ve been inconsistent of late for us. It was great to get that consistency again.” Neosho coach Grant Berendt said the Pointers forced his Wildcats to go against their game plan. “It was like a buzzsaw,” Berendt said. “We knew what they were capable of. We didn’t have a lot of film on them … but we knew that we had to guard the 3-point line and we had to play a different style of defense than maybe we’re accustomed to. “They shot 62 percent from the field. It’s hard to beat a team like that.” Sydney Linny led the Wildcats (8-3) with 12 points, while Makayla Hayes had 10 points and nine boards. While saying he was happy with his team’s showing at the tournament, which included wins over Forrest City (Arkansas) and St. Joseph Central, Berendt said Van Buren confirmed his team still has plenty to work on. “It’s going to be a good teaching tool,” Berendt said. “(The game) was good for us in a fact that we know if we want to do the kind of things we want to do, we cannot be one-dimensional. “Tonight, Van Buren made us pay on some rotations that we didn’t get to and didn’t do a good job communicating on. “To put our kids in this atmosphere is awesome. We had two well-deserved wins. Our kids played very, very well and just ran into a buzzsaw.”

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Van Buren High School Athletics

VB GIRLS REPEAT IN NEOSHO HOLIDAY CLASSIC

LEVI PAYTON

The Joplin Globe | 12/31/2016