ROGERS — Rogers Heritage coach Tom Olsen came away from the Arvest Hoopfest pleased with his team’s effort even though the War Eagles fell short in Saturday’s championship game.
Heritage grabbed a one-point lead on Xavier Thomas’ spin move with four minutes left, but Webb City limited the War Eagles to just three points the rest of the way to claim a 48-41 win at War Eagle Arena.
Tournament Most Valuable Player Phoenix Johnson helped force backto-back turnovers, which helped the Cardinals (3-0) carve out a four-point lead and go on to win the title.
Olsen acknowledged Webb City’s defense was the diff erence.
“They are just so good defensively, looking at some stats I think we shot about 36 percent tonight,” Olsen said. “Last night we shot 57 percent and you can definitely say they had some to do with that.
“We took care of the ball for the most part. We just had 10 turnovers and I’m pleased with that. It just kinda boils down to what a good job they do defensively. A couple times we had an opportunity around the basket and they didn’t give up on the play. They made it hard on us, got a tip and we missed.”
The Cardinals were also strong from the free-throw line, making 21 of 24 for the game and 17 of 18 in the second half.
Webb City coach Landon Cornish said his team starts f ive seniors and that experience showed well late in the game. The Cardinals hadn’t even played a game until the Arvest tournament since that senior group only recently helped Webb City claim its third consecutive state football title.
“They have great composure and poise,” Cornish said. “Coming into a hostile environment and winning, that will give us confidence. That was an extremely physical game on defense and well played by both teams.
“Escaping would be the word I’d use.”
Johnson, a 5-9 senior, came up with big plays late in the game. In addition to forcing the backto-back turnovers, the point guard knifed through Heritage’s full-court pressure in the waning second and found teammate Nate Brown for a layup, after the War Eagles had cut the lead back to three with 30 seconds left.
Johnson finished with a game-high 14 points, including 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
Olsen and Cornish agreed he’s a differencemaker.
“He runs the show for us,” Cornish said. “Off ensively, we just let him create. He’s an extremely unselfish player who just wants to win.”
“Phoenix Johnson is just a dynamite player and it’s hard to stay in front of him,” Olsen added.
Junior guard Wyatt Kinnamon led Heritage (6-3) with 10 points off the bench.
WEBB CITY, MO. 48, ROGERS HERITAGE 41
Webb City 8 11 12 17 — 48 Heritage 4 13 14 10 — 41
Webb City (3-0): Johnson 14, Roderique 11, Brown 10, Slaughter 7, Vaden 5, Gardner 1.
Rogers Heritage (6-3): Kinnamon 10, Olsen 8, Fryauf 7, Robbins 7, Hirsh 4, Greenway 3, Thomas 2.
Waynesville, Mo. 63, Mt. Vernon, Mo. 53
The Tigers rolled to a 19-point halftime lead, but had to hold off a late charge to claim third place in the tournament.
Juwan Morgan, a 6-6 sophomore, scored a team-high 19 points to lead three players in double f igures for the Tigers (4-2). Chandler Myers, a 6-4 sophomore, finished with a game-high 21 points for the Mountaineers, who pulled within five points on three occasions in the fourth quarter, but could get no closer.