Montverde Defeats Nixa 78-61 At Tournament Of Champions

By Don Louzader

CREATED Jan. 18, 2013

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  • Semifinal Night Crowd At 29th Annual Bass Pro Tournament Of Champions At JQH Arena Image by Chase Snider / KTTS News

  • Evan James (3) from Little Rock Hall looks for the bounce pass around Prestonwood Christian's D.J. McGee (23) in the seventh place game of the 2013 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions at JQH Arena

  • Semifinal Night Crowd At 29th Annual Bass Pro Tournament Of Champions At JQH Arena

  • St. John Bosco's Tyler Dorsey dishes off the basketball in game against Paul VI Catholic School in semifinal round action at the Bass Pro Tournament Of Champions at JQH Arena

  • Roy Hardy helps push the Hillcrest Hornets to a day 2 victory over Prestonwood Christian at JQH Arena during the 2013 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions

The Montverde Eagles are headed to the championship game of the 29th Annual Bass Pro Tournament of Champions At JQH Arena, beating the hometown Nixa Eagles 78-61 Friday night.

The nation's number one ranked team (according to ESPN) improved to 18-0 on the season, jumping out to an early lead and sustaining it.

Montverde, from Florida, went ahead 22-9 after one quarter and 40-23 at the half before expanding the margin by as many as 25 points in the third quarter.

Both teams empties their benches late in the game, and Nixa's offense stayed aggressive, outscoring Montverde 20-13 in the final eight minutes.

Kasey Hill had 22 points to lead the Montverde Eagles, with 20 of those coming in the first half. Dakari Johnson, a member of the USA World Team, added 18.

The Ruder's led the way for Nixa, with future MSU Bear Austin Ruder scoring 19, and Jacob Ruder adding 11 points.

Montverde will play Paul VI, a Catholic high school from Fairfax, Virginia, in Saturday's championship game of the tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30.

Here are the final scores from Friday's second round action: 

Springfield Hillcrest 76, Prestonwood Christian 49

Bullitt East 68, Little Rock Hall 58

Paul VI 52, St. John Bosco 50

Montverde 78, Nixa 61

Here's the schedule for Saturday's final round of play:

Seven Place: Prestonwood vs. Little Rock Hall  3:30 p.m.

Consolation Final: Springfield Hillcrest vs. Bullitt East  5:00 p.m.

Third Place Game: St. John Bosco vs. Nixa  6:30 p.m.

Championship Game: Paul VI vs. Montverde  8:30 p.m.

KTTS.com will have complete coverage of the final round, with game recaps and photos.