Joplin hoops teams swept by Lee's Summit

Dec. 14—Both the Joplin boys and girls basketball teams dropped road contests at Lee's Summit.

The boys grabbed an early 7-6 lead after one quarter but Lee's Summit opened it up in the second quarter with 17 points to grab a 24-10 lead at halftime.

The Eagles fought right back into it by winning the third stanza 16-8 to get within 4 points. The final quarter saw Lee's Summit hang on for the 46-40 win.

"Another instance in which we did enough defensively to give ourselves a chance to win the game," Joplin head coach Nicholas Pfeifer said. "A slow start and some costly turnovers down the stretch really hurt us. I am encouraged by the effort and the way we competed as a team, but we are still looking for guys to produce consistently on the offensive end."

Whit Hafer tallied 15 points and made four 3-pointers to lead Joplin. Collis Jones and Brecken Green both added 6 points.

Gatlin Brody led the Tigers with 14 points. Jaylen Lockhart added 10. Brody also made four treys.

Lee's Summit won the junior varsity game 67-51.

In the girls' contest, Joplin fell behind 31-9 by the intermission and despite winning the third quarter 11-10, there was no comeback in order for the Eagles in a 51-26 loss.

Joplin was led by Alissa Owens and Ashley Phillips with 7 points apiece. Phillips made one triple.

The Tigers were led by Adriana Benassi with 18 points. Benassi was a perfect 4 for 4 on free throws.

The Lee's Summit boys are now 4-2, the girls 7-1. Joplin teams fall to 1-6 for the girls and 1-5 for the boys.

Joplin girls play again on Saturday in the Waynesville Route 66 Shootout. The boys wait until Friday, Dec. 22, to return to action as Kickapoo comes to the Kaminsky Gymnasium for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.