Neosho boys claim 69-52 win in Holiday Classic

1 week ago 2

NEOSHO, Mo. — Kaiden Asberry finished with 24 points while playing just 24 minutes in a lopsided 69-57 Neosho Wildcats win over the Morrilton (Arkansas) junior varsity in their opening game of the Neosho Holiday Classic Monday at NHS.

The Wildcats (7-2) jumped out to a 5-0 lead off an Asberry trey early and did not trail the rest of the game.

Neosho extended its lead to 19-5 off another Asberry three-pointer with 2:10 left in the opening quarter. The lead ballooned to 22-5 when Asberry connected for his third trey of the quarter and swelled to 25-5 when Asberry buried his fourth three-pointer.

With a healthy batch of reserves playing the second quarter for Neosho, Morrilton was able to outscore the Wildcats 14-10 to cut into the lead.

Neosho’s Mason Spiva hit from behind the arc to give the Wildcats a 35-13 lead with 3:10 left in the half, but Morrilton put together a 6-0 run to close out the half, behind 35-19.

Zach Forsythe scored in the paint to open the second half and give Neosho a 37-19 lead and Asberry later increased the lead to 42-19 with his fifth trey of the night at the 5:58 mark.

Back-to-back Forsythe buckets put the Wildcats up 46-22 and after a Neosho transition score, Forsythe connected again and gave the Wildcats a 51-22 lead with 2:57 left in the third.

Neosho got another bucket from Forsythe at the 1:04 mark and closed out the third quarter with a 53-33 lead.

A trey from Spiva at the 5:53 mark stretched Neosho’s lead to 59-37 and a transition score from Cohen Depoe made it a 61-37 game. Another trey by Spiva at the 1:34 mark gave the Wildcats a 68-45 lead as Neosho held win for the 62-52 win.

Asberry led all scorers with 24 points — including 14 in the opening frame. Forsythe and Spiva both finished with 12 points each and Jaiden Fisher tallied 10. Houston Branscum tallied 11 assists, a block and a steal.

Tre Hammons led the Morrilton JV with 20 points, while Jakobe Chambers chipped in with 19.

With the win, Neosho will face Huntsville, Arkansas, in the Black bracket semifinals at 6 p.m. Tuesday at NHS.

Morrilton JV will face McDonald County at 2 p.m. Tuesday At NHS.

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