O'HARA IS RUNNER-UP IN NIXA INVITATIONAL

Three three-pointers by Ben Fisher in the first quarter vaulted the Nixa Eagles to an early 26-14 lead over O'Hara, and the host team went on to win the Nixa Invitational 2010 championship 72-45. The Eagles went to 20-1 for their season and O'Hara to 16-4. _____ It was the first time O'Hara lost a game by more than three points. _____ The Eagles didn't reach the finals easily having just got by Mount Vernon in a defensive game that ended 46-44; Mount Vernon didn't fare so well against Willard in their game for third place losing 62-49. ____ O'Hara defeated Willard 85-76 in the semifinals to play for the championship. _____ In the O'Hara-Willard game, the Celtics outscored the Tigers in each of the first three quarters, and both teams shot freely in the fourth quarter, each team scoring over 35 points each. _____ Three O'Hara players enjoyed double figures with JeVon Lyle getting 19, Dominique Fields with 17, and Andre Jordan in with 12. _____ In the game for the Invitational Championship, the Eagles shot at 45% and won their first title since 2005. Their top two scorers were Ben Fisher and Zac Hill who totaled 29 points between them. _____ The Celtics were led by Dominique Fields with 12 and JeVon Lyles with 11. _____ The tournament went for three days but only one game could be played on the middle day as the city was blanketed with a snow storm. That put the semifinals and finals on the same day, January 30th. _____ Harrisonville was the winner of the Consolation bracket with a 72-58 win over Park Hill, and seventh place was won in close game by Aurora over Willow Springs 73-71.

FORMER O'HARA COACH WINS 500TH

Mark Nusbaum coached his first basketball win at Archbishop O'Hara High School years ago and his 500th on January 29 at Rockhurst High School when the Hawklets won a 50-32 game with Shawnee Mission East. _____ Nusbaum's span of victories also included successful years coaching at Liberty. _____ He is the sixth basketball coach in Kansas City area history to reach the 500 mark. _____ He has been coaching basketball for 31 years.

O'Hara Girls Win Tournament Championship

Behind the firepower of Breanna Ransburg and Cameron Randle who combined for 24 points, the Archbishop O'Hara High School Lady Celtics won the 2010 Grain Valley Eagles Sonic Show Down tournament on January 29 with a victory over Pleasant Hill 52-36. _____ The Celtics were tied at 14-14 going into the second quarter and managed to pull ahead by four points at the halfway mark. _____ O'Hara outpointed Pleasant Hill in the third quarter 19-6 and the outcome was not close. _____ Adding to the O'Hara scoring were Tori Hurtt, Hailey Houser, Alex Smith, and Ashley Clark with six or more points apiece. These four were named to the ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM. _____ It was Pleasant Hills's second loss in 17 games as they could only score 16 points in the entire second half of the contest. ______ Lincoln Prep won the battle for third place topping Grain Valley 53-46. Oak Grove won the consolation game beating Odessa 34-24.

DISTRICT 13 BASKETBALL TEAMS

The MSHSAA Class 3 District 13 teams this year are Archbishop O'Hara, Pembroke Hill, Central, and Westport. _____ As of January 28, the following State Rankings were: #1 Saint Francis Borgia (Washington); #2 Webster Groves; #3 Hazelwood (Florissant); #4 Kearney; #5 Nixa: #6 O'Hara; #7 Branson; #8 McLuer (Florissant); #9 Sikeston; #10 Raymore-Peculiar.

Nixa Tournament First Round Win for O'Hara

In the Nixa Invitational Tournament on January 28th the O'Hara Celtics beat Willow Springs 73-19 in the first round. _____ In addition to winning by 54 points and although only one player reached double figures with Josh Ruprecht scoring 10 points, nine different O'Hara players put in at least six points each. _____ Using their effective defense, the team limited their opponents to one free throw the entire third quarter and a total of only five second half points. _____ Twelve Celtics scored points as Coach Todd Magwire gave the entire squad playing time. ____ The Harrisonville Wildcats lost to the Willard Tigers 71-59 bringing up a game between the Tigers and the Celtics in the quarterfinals. _____ In the other bracket, the Nixa Eagles beat the Aurora Houn Dawgs 63-29 and the Mount Vernon Mountaineers edged the Park Hill Trojans 50-49 to move up in competition. _____ Only the game between Harrisonville and Willow Springs was played Friday due to the weather conditions: Harrisonville won 66-42. The remainder of the games are scheduled for the following day.

LADY CELTIC FACE PLEASANT HILL FOR SHOW DOWN CHAMPIONSHIP

The O'Hara Celtics won their semifinal game of the 2010 Grain Valley Lady Eagles Sonic Show Down tournament by downing the host team 58-28 on January 27 to meet Pleasant Hill, 54-45 winner over Lincoln Prep, for the tournament Championship on Friday. _____ Three O'Hara players scored a dozen or more points in the game: Tori Hurtt, Alex Smith, and Ashley Clark. Cameron Randle and Hailey Houser combined for 14 more tallies. _____ After reaching a 27-12 halftime score, the Celtics went 28-10 in the third quarter to have the game completed with a running clock.

State 4-A Basketball Ranking: Celtics are 4th

On Sunday, January 24th, the Missouri State High School Regular Season 4-A rankings compiled by sportswriters and sportscasters was announced. _____ O'Hara with a 14-3 record was in 4th place with Borgia 15-0, Sikeston 14-1, and Kearney 13-1 ranked ahead of them. _____ The Celtics' three losses were by a total of just six points. _____ Center, the only other West Central Conference ranked school with an 11-5 record, was 10th; however the Yellowjackets lost a 71-70 game to Warrensburg after the rankings were published. _____ Teams that were between O'Hara and Center (in order) were Soldan 13-4, Notre Dame Cape Girardeau 13-4, Clayton 13-5, MIDC 13-3, and Moberly 10-5.