Junior guard Kael Combs attributed his 20-point second half performance at Parkview to his teammates' level of play.

"I see my teammates doing great work, Noah Engelman, Jackson Bell and Colten all played a really good game so when I see them still going and giving it all I knew I had to turn up defensively for us to win the game," he said. 

Parkview (3-1), fresh off a championship in the Arvest Classic, hosted Nixa (1-0) in what was a highly anticipated matchup between two of the area's best. Both teams were missing key personnel. Nixa's point guard Colin Ruffin was sidelined with a knee injury suffered during the season opener, while Parkview head coach Landon Cornish was not on the bench for the Vikings.

Nixa would start the game out with a 9-4 run, but Parkview would take over not long after. 

Turnovers hurt the Eagles offense, leading to easy buckets on the other end. The Vikings took their first lead of the game when Brandon Corley made a three-pointer to make the score 16-15. 

The Vikings continued to expand on their first-half dominance, ending the first half on a 12-2 run, which gave Parkview a 26-17 lead heading into the locker room. 

As the second half started, so did Combs. 

On the first possession, he drained a three-pointer from NBA range, and from there, the entire Nixa offensive demeanor changed. 

The Eagles would score points on every possession in the third quarter, and narrow the Vikings lead to 35-30 going into the last quarter of action.

Again, Combs opened up the quarter with three points. But this time the hard way, with an and-one, making it a one-possession game. 

After getting a stop on the defensive end, Berry tied the game at 35. 

The teams traded buckets to make the score 40-37 Parkview. Then Combs used a beautiful step back move to answer and again tie the game up. 

Berry scored the eventual game-winning bucket on a third-chance opportunity. 

With the score at 42-40, Combs would score on the next two possessions, giving him 24 points in the game, and icing a big non-conference matchup for the Eagles. 

Engelman would add a free throw to give Nixa the 48-40 win.

Coach Jay Osborne was pleased with the performance of his team in the absence of Ruffin. 

"Without our point guard, a guy that can shoot it and distribute it, we got to come out of this with a win feeling pretty good about ourselves. We got a chance to be pretty good this year but we got moving parts that we need to get fixed. It's a work in progress but we have a bright future ahead."

Combs led all scorers with 24 points. Berry added ten, along with six from Engelman and four from both Bell and Jaret Nelson.

Elijah Whitley and Xzavia McAruthur led the way for the Vikings with seven points each. Kevin Parker Jr, Marcus Price, and Shane Glass all added six. Corley had five and T.J. Hill finished with three.

Nixa moves to 2-0 on the year, moving into a seven-day break due to the postponement of the Fayetteville, Ark. game. 

The Eagles will kick off their quest for a third-straight conference championship Tuesday, Dec. 14 when they host Willard (3-1) for a three-game night. 

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 at Eagle Fieldhouse.