BASKETBALL AT WM JEWELL

WHITE AND BRADEN LEAD CELTICS IN WIN FOR THIRD PLACE At the Bank Midwest Holiday Basketball Classic played at William Jewell College, the O’Hara Celtics defeated the Kearney Bulldogs 55-46 for the Third Place trophy. TJ White was the top scorer in the game with 26 points and was followed by Mark Braden who had 16. Except for a lull at the end of the second quarter and the start of the second half, the fast and aggressive O’Hara team coped well with the Bulldogs’ inside game. Making the most of 6’9” Dillon Starsl, the Bulldogs were able to tie the game three times at 28-28, 30-30, and 40-40, but the Celtics never trailed after TJ White put them ahead midway through the first quarter. When the scored reached 27-18 just before the halftime, it appeared the game would be a runaway, but the game slowed down and the Bulldogs eventually was able to tie it up but never able to pull ahead. The O’Hara defense held Kearney to only two baskets in the second quarter, but free throws assisted the Bulldogs in whittling away at the lead. Kearney was helped by three consecutive three-pointers during the brief time the Bulldogs held the lead. The Celtics pumped in 21 fourth quarter points, 12 of which were by Mark Braden.O’HARA MAKES FINAL FOUR AT WILLIAM JEWELL BUT LOSES TO ROCK BRIDGE IN SEMIFINALS On Saturday, December 29th, the O’Hara boys basketball team joined Kearney, Rock Bridge, and Liberty in the winners’ bracket of the Nelson Division of the William Jewell Holiday Classic. Rock Bridge and O'Hara met on Monday with the Celtics at the short end of a 69-44 score. The O’Hara Celtics defeated the Truman Patriots 70-55 in the opening round while Rock Bridge had an easy time with Staley 75-40 to bring the two teams together for the semifinal game in their bracket. In the first game, the Celtics were held at bay throughout the first quarter when the Patriots used a 2-3 zone defense. But midway through the second quarter, Joe Pepple connected on a three-pointer to give the Celtics a 25-24 lead, and thanks to five unanswered points by JeVon Lyle, O’Hara went ahead and remained in the lead until the end of the game. The Patriots were able to bring the score to within one point by halftime 30-29, but the Celtics took charge early in the third quarter with a 10-4 spurt and built up a nine point advantage by the time the fourth quarter got under way. Mark Braden scored seven of his game high 15 points during the third quarter. JeVon Lyle scored 13 points in the game with Dominique Fields adding 10. The Patriots couldn’t keep pace with the fast breaking Celtics. On the following day, the Bruins from Columbia led all the way, outscoring the Celtics by 3 in the first quarter and then by 6 in the second quarter. O'Hara couldn't get things going in the third quarter and the game got out of reach when Rock Bridge poured in 19 points to O'Hara's 9. Mark Braden scored half of O'Hara's 16 fourth quarter points and ended up with 17 for the day. Dominique Fields was the only other O'Hara player to score more than six points and he got all seven of his in the second half.