With five minutes to go in the Nixa basketball season opener, things did not look great for the Eagles. All-State point guard Colin Ruffin was forced to go to the trainer after awkwardly falling on an already hurt left knee, along with both Jaret Nelson and Colten Berry sitting on the bench with foul trouble in a tie ballgame. 

Thus, junior guard Kael Combs was forced to step up, and that he did. 

Nixa hosted Arkansas' Bentonville West (4-0) in what both coaches summed up as a massive tone setter to their season. The two teams had only met once in Bentonville West's six seasons to date. That was a neutral site game in Harrison, Ark. that was won by the Wolverines 61-48. 

Despite the players on the floor never playing against one another, the first quarter set a chippy tone that showed throughout the whole game, the referee's were constantly separating bodies. The Eagles got out to a 10-5 lead early in the first quarter with a pair of Ruffin lay-ups and a Keith Piepmeier three pointer that ended the first quarter at 18-9. 

Bentonville West took no time to storm back, starting the second period on a 12-3 run to tie the game at 21 all when Riley Buccino was goaltended on a lay-up. Jackson Bell single handedly increased the lead to 28-21, converting on a four-point play and then hit another three pointer on the ensuing possession. 

The Eagles would head into halftime with a 39-30 lead.

Coming out of the halftime break, the Wolverines fed the basketball to some unlikely names. 
Rather than turning to leading-scorer Buccino, he turned into the facilitator. Cade Packnet led a fierce comeback, scoring seven points in the third quarter which turned the tide for Bentonville West. 

After the Wolverines tied the game at 47 apiece, the Eagles would use a Combs bucket, and a transition layup by Ruffin to take a 51-47 lead into the final quarter.

The two teams would trade buckets to open the fourth quarter up, making the score 55-52 when Ruffin would come up limp with an apparent knee injury. The following possession the Wolverines would use a beautifully executed zone-beater to find Tucker Anderson wide open for the game-tying three pointer. 

Bentonville West would hit another three-point shot to take the lead out of a Nixa timeout. 

Combs took over on the next two possessions, finishing a tough layup around the rim, then getting a steal on the defensive end, finishing it with a monster jam and sending the Eagle Fieldhouse crowd into a frenzy. 

Perhaps, the dagger however, would be when Combs would throw a transition alley-oop to Nelson, who finished with a two-handed flush, giving the Eagles a five-point lead with under a minute to go. 

The Wolverines would not go down without a fight. Anderson drained a three to make it a one possession game. 

After Ruffin split his free throws, the Wolverines received the look they wanted with a chance to tie. Buccino had a wide-open three, but missed it. However, after a Combs free throw, the Eagles would win the season opener 67-63. 

Combs led all scorers with 23 points and Ruffin added 14. Berry had ten points in the paint along with Nelson who had 8. Bell added nine of his own, all in the second quarter.

Anderson led the way for the Wolverines with 17 points, Cade Packnet and Dawson Price both added 15. Buccino was held to just 12 points, all in the first half. Tucker Bowman had 4.

The Eagles will be back in action Tuesday, December 7 in a road matchup with Parkview (3-1). Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.