Kaleb Wofford started the new year off with a bang Friday, emerging from the doldrums of a shooting slump that plagued him during the 2018 portion of this season.

But it was otherwise more of the same for Nixa trying to solve Rogersville. The Eagles were denied revenge for last week's Blue & Gold Tournament loss to the Wildcats by also dropping the teams' rematch 51-48 to begin 2019.

Nixa (6-7) also couldn't break 50 against Rogersville in their first meeting, while falling 55-49. The Eagles give up height to the Wildcats in the back court and along the front line, making for a tall order they couldn't complete.

"They match up really well against us," Eagles guard Evann Long said. "They played two games against us and played us well, so you have to give it to them."

"They're definitely a tough matchup," Wofford added. "They have size and strong players who can get to the rack and finish whenever they want at times. It's tough to guard them." 

For Nixa, it's actually been tougher to score on Rogersville.

"When you're up against 6-foot-5, 6-4, 6-4 and 6-2, it's going to present some problems," Eagles coach Jay Osborne said. "We've struggled with their length and size. They have athletic kids and quickness. We don't have a whole lot of size and length. There's not a lot of verticality to us."

Nixa, which hasn't broken into the 50s in its last three losses, put up only 37 points through the first 29 minutes Friday. The Eagles trailed 46-37 before making for a dramatic finish.

"We're not fun to watch offensively right now," Osborne said. "We're not real fluid. We're stagnant at times. We're struggling on offense, no doubt about it."

Nixa finished 4-of-16 on its 3-point attempts and that was even after Wofford got hot and nailed a pair of treys as part of his 11-point fourth quarter. He had a season-high 19 points, after being scoreless against Rogersville at the Blue & Gold.

It was just the kind of shooting that had eluded Wofford in the first half of his sophomore season.

"It's definitely been a slump," Wofford said. "I've been trying to work through it and find other ways to produce for my team. I've been trying to stay aggressive and keep looking for my shot.

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