Monett boys basketball defeats Hollister; Lady Cubs top Parkview

The Monett High School boys basketball team traveled to Hollister on Thursday, Dec. 18 and came home with a 64-53 victory.
The Cubs led 16-10 after the first quarter and 33-19 at the half. In the third quarter the Tigers outscored Monett 17-14 to cut the deficit to 46-36. Both teams scored 17 points each in the fourth quarter to close out the game.
Jack Stephens led the way for the Cubs with 21 points, Alex Meeks added 16 points and Tucker Goetz chipped in 11 points off the bench. Carson Nestleroad led with 10 rebounds.
“We got a good road win before Christmas break against a solid Hollister team,” said Head Coach Andrew Ballock. “We started the game with a lot of energy. All in all it was a great team win, everybody did a great job at playing their role and doing whatever was necessary for us to get a victory.‚“
The Cubs started the week by traveling to Neosho on Tuesday, Dec. 16 and came home with a 61-37 loss.
The Wildcats outscored Monett 13-9 in the first quarter. It was a defensive showcase in the second quarter, as the Cubs scored only five points, while Neosho put up just nine points to take a 22-13 halftime lead.
A 27-point third quarter by the Wildcats put the game away as Neosho pulled out to a 49-22 lead. Monett outscored Neosho 15-12 in the fourth quarter.
Meeks led Monett with 13 points.
“We lost to a good, physical, and athletic Neosho team.” said Ballock. “We played a really good first half defensively. We struggled to score [against] their size at the rim and their athleticism on the perimeter. Neosho played a really good third quarter, they hit six threes I believe to give them some separation.”
Monett is 2-5 on the season and were scheduled to play against Mountain Grove in a first round game at the 43rd Annual Southwest Boys Holiday Tournament.

Girls basketball
The Lady Cubs traveled to Springfield on Monday, Dec. 15, to take on Parkview and came home with an impressive 62-42 victory.
Monett jumped out to a 20-10 first quarter lead and never looked back. The Lady Cubs added another 13 points in the second quarter to go into the half, leading 33-18. The Lady Vikings outscored Monett 15-14 in the third quarter to cut the lead to 47-33. In the final quarter of play, Monett outscored Parkview 15-9 to win by 20 points.
Meredith Merriman led Monett with 27 points and Kilee Wilson added 18 points in the victory.
“We came out and had a good first half which pushed us to the win,” said Head Coach Josh Kleine.
Monett is 7-1 on the season and were scheduled to play at home against Diamond on Monday night.