NEOSHO, Mo. — The Neosho Holiday Classic has had only one team win the tournament title three straight years.
Bentonville tried to become the second, but there was just one problem — Webb City, Mo.
The Lady Cardinals led Saturday from start to finish and handed Bentonville its first loss of the season 62-56 in the Black Division championship game.
Junior guard Mikaela Burgess scored 17 points, including four free throws in the final 33.2 seconds to thwart a Lady Tigers comeback.
“Give Webb City all the credit,” Bentonville girls basketball coach Tom Halbmaier said. “They hit the shots, and we didn’t. It was one of those nights when we didn’t shoot the ball well.
“They had some mismatches that they exploited, and (Burgess) took care of the ball very well. We were trying to create some more turnovers, and they hit some wide open shots.”
Bentonville (12-1) struggled with its 3-point shooting until late, hitting only 4 of 19 through the first three quarters. Two of those misses came when the Lady Tigers had a chance to tie the game after a Rashaun Casey’s 3-pointer pulled Bentonville within 37-34.
Webb City then pulled away with a 3-pointer by Kaitlin Beason and 3-point plays by Desirea Buerge and Casey Heger for a 46-34 lead late in the third quarter.
“We created a hole for ourselves,” Halbmaier said. “We were constantly fighting an uphill battle. When we would get close, they would come back and hit a bucket.”
Bentonville had a comeback attempt in the fourth quarter when it found its 3-point shooting. The Lady Tigers hit five from beyond the arc in the final eight minutes, including one by Kindal Coleman that pulled them within 56-54 with 35 seconds remaining.
Webb City, however, put the game away with four free throws by Burgess and two more by Beason with 12 seconds left. Bentonville then closed out the scoring with Jamayne Potts’ bucket at the buzzer.
Taylor Lee, who was named to the all-tournament team, had 12 points for Bentonville, while Coleman added 11. Buerge had 15 and Beason chipped in 13 for Webb City.
Webb City, Mo., 62, Bentonville 56
Webb City 18 11 17 16 — 62
Bentonville 11 12 12 21 — 56
Webb City (11-2): Burgess 17, Buerge 15, Beason 13, Heger 8, Heman 5, Kneib 2, Benro 2.
Bentonville (12-1): Lee 12, Coleman 11, Casey 9, Potts 9, Adkins 6, Secrest 6, Garrard 2, Mabeus 1.