Willard girls and boys basketball both beat Carthage teams

Both the Willard High School boys and girls basketball teams split games last week, as they both beat Carthage and both lost to Republic.
The Lady Tigers jumped out to a 28-7 first quarter lead against Carthage and never looked back, as they knocked off the blue Lady Tigers 64-31 at home on Feb. 8.
Willard continued the pressure outscoring Carthage 12-6 in the second quarter to take a 40-13 halftime lead. The Lady Tigers added another 14 points in the third quarter and 10 points in the fourth quarter to win the game, 64-31.
“The young ladies tonight were committed to sharing the basketball and being ag- gressive off of the dribble,” said head JJ Adamson. “When we are at our best, the ball just seems to find the open person at the right
time and they have the con- fidence to step up and shoot it and that’s what happened tonight.”
Kaitlyn Burson led Willard with 11 points and Meghan Mahan added 10 points in the win.
Willard traveled to Republic on Feb. 5, but came home with a 34-31 loss.
The Lady Tigers led 11-6 after the first quarter and af- ter a six point second quarter was still able to hold a 17-16 halftime lead. The Orange Lady Tigers outscored Wil- lard 8-4 in the third quarter and that was the difference in the game as both teams scored 10 points each in the fourth quarter.
“We were not in a flow offensively,” said Adamson. “Since the Pink and White we have had some struggles, but whenever you only give up 34 points in a high school game, you should win. But you have to credit Republic they did a great job and we were only able to score 31
points against them.” Burson led Willard with
11 points. Willard is now 13-10 on
the season and was scheduled to travel to Ozark on Monday and then to Joplin on Friday night.
The boys team came out on fire against Carthage on Feb. 8, as the host Tigers knocked off Carthage, 87- 45.
Willard jumped out to a 22-10 first quarter lead and increased that lead to 42-20 at halftime. Willard added another 28 points in the third quarter and 17 points in the fourth quarter to win the game by 42 points.
“It was a great team win tonight,” said head coach Jeremy Draessler. “Daniel (Abreu) and Mo (Grayer) both had great games and we were able to play our game tonight. We were able to run the floor, make our shots, rebound and control the tempo of the game.”
Abreu led Willard with 37
points and Grayer added 23 points in the win.
Willard traveled to Re- public on Feb. 5, and came home with a 58-44 loss.
“We have had two good losses this year,” said Draessler. “Not in the aspect of a loss like we played well and just got beat, but a loss where we got exposed. You play every regular season game and tournament game in preparation for the post season tournament. The Republic loss will be very beneficial to our success. It’s unfortunate to work and come up short, but this will help us be a better team in a few weeks from now.”
Abreu led Willard with 22 points and Hayden Roberts added nine points in the loss.
Willard is now 14-8 on the season and was scheduled to travel to Ozark on Tuesday before ending the week at Joplin on Friday.