Lady Tigers beat Joplin, seeded second in districts

Tigers drop two games, seeded fifth in district tournament
 
The Willard High School girls’ and boys’ basketball team each played two games last week, with the Lady Tigers winning one and the Tigers losing both.
Girls
Willard hosted Joplin on Friday, Feb. 18, and was able to hold on for a 63-57 win over the Lady Eagles.
Knotted up repeatedly in the first half, after halftime a fired-up Willard team held Joplin to just 11 points in the third quarter, while putting up 23 points to increase their lead to, 52-38. The difference was more than Joplin could overcome, giving Willard the win.
Carolina Crawford led Willard with 18 points and Kailyn Washington added 17 points in the victory.
Willard hosted Ozark on Monday, Feb. 14, but fell to the orange Lady Tigers, 77-49.
Crawford led Willard with 22 points and Brielle Adamson had 15 points in the loss.
Willard is now 10-14 on the season and were scheduled to travel to Branson last night before coming home to host the Class 5, District 6 Tournament on Saturday where they will play McDonald County in the opening round.
Carl Junction is the top seed in the tournament, followed by Willard, Webb City, Parkview, Neosho, Bolivar, McDonald County and Hillcrest. The semifinals are scheduled to be played on Monday, Feb. 28, with the championship game taking place on Friday, March 4.
Boys
The Tigers hosted Joplin on Friday, Feb. 18, and after leading 68-61 by the end of the third quarter saw Joplin outscore the host squad 19-9 in the fourth quarter to take the game, 80-77.
Haden Brown led Willard with 29 points and Gavin Davis added 22 points in the loss.
Willard hosted Ozark on Tuesday, Feb. 15, but lost a close one, 73-66.
“It was a great high school basketball game,” said head coach Jeremy Dresslaer. “They made some big shots to get back in the game and then we had some unfortunate plays that went against us. Got unlucky and that’s part of the game, at times.”
Davis led Willard with 19 points, Brett Hall had 18 points and Brown ended the game with 12 points.
The Tigers are now 14-11 on the season and were scheduled to travel to Branson last night to wrap up their regular season schedule before heading home to host the Class 5, District 6 Tournament, starting Saturday, against
Neosho.
Bolivar is the top seed in the tournament, followed by Parkview, Webb City, Neosho, Willard, McDonald County, Hillcrest and Carl Junction. The semifinals will be played on Tuesday, March 1, with the championship game being played on Friday, March 4.