The majority of players who made up the Nixa-Ozark rivalry last season were again on the court for the latest chapter in the teams' spirited series Tuesday.

To be precise, 13 of the 18 players who scored in the teams' game a year ago were in uniform this time around, too.

Same cast of characters, but much different stories to tell.

Nixa never was challenged during its 72-41 rout of Ozark Tuesday. The Eagles jumped on top 31-7.

This time last year, Ozark led by as many as 16 points on its way to an 84-79 victory versus Nixa.

"We definitely held a grudge against them since they beat us last year," Eagles guard Colin Ruffin said. "I felt bad after that game. I wasn't happy for a good week. It was a long wait to play them. It took forever.

"We definitely came prepared. We watched a lot of film on them," he added. "We're glad to beat them at home and it was a pretty packed crowd, so it was a really good night."

"It was a good performance," Eagles coach Jay Osborne said. "The kids played hard, with passion and a sense of purpose. Anytime you beat Ozark, it's a good win. We'll take it."

Nixa brought a zone defense and any open looks the Tigers could find were few. They managed just six points in the first quarter and six more in the second quarter.

What a complete contrast. Ozark put up 57 points in the second half alone against Nixa last season.

"Our defense was good tonight," Nixa forward Kael Combs said. "We kept them out of the paint. If they did get it in the paint, we closed on their shooters well."

Offensively, forward Jason Jones scored a game-high 16 points and Ruffin and Combs each had 13. Nine Eagles scored.

"I told them before the game, 'When we share the basketball and play unselfishly, we've got a nice team. When we think about ourselves and what our scoring averages are, we're a pretty average team,'" Osborne said.

Osborne added it wasn't quite a perfect game by his team.

"It was like we were hibernating at the start of the second half. We got really good looks when we decided to get out of nap mode," Osborne said. "We knew they were going to press us. But we didn't get out of first gear and attack it. Once we got out of first gear, we attacked the rim and got easy looks.

"We had a couple communication breakdowns," he added. "We changed defenses once and had two guys not in it and we ran a couple (offensive) sets in which someone wasn't in it. We've got a lot to work on there. We've got to relay messages."

Ozark's Blaine Cline and Ethan Whatley have been renowned for their consistency this season. But on this night neither reached double-figure scoring. Cline had nine points and Whatley was scoreless.

Kyle Flavin's 10 points topped the Tigers (13-7 and 2-1).

Nixa (16-3 overall and 3–0 in the COC) upped its winning streak versus COC opponents to 11 and ran its winning streak in COC contests to nine. Ozark is the last COC team to beat the Eagles.

"We put ourselves in the driver's seat," Osborne said. "We've got some hurdles left. But winning this game surely helps toward getting the title."

In addition, Nixa went a long way toward assuring itself the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage for Class 6 District 11. Ozark is 2-1 against District foes, having already beaten Branson (8-10) and Glendale (4-10).

Nixa will play its sixth game in nine days while traveling to Glendale on Wednesday.

"I think three-game weeks help us a lot," Combs said. "They help us get to know each other even better." 

"It basically is an NBA schedule," Ruffin said. "We've played so many home games back to back to back to back. We can't get away. I'm in my best shape ever. But I can't wait to get a good sleep."

Osborne won't hear any excuses of basketball burnout.

"That's a myth. There's no such thing as burnout," Osborne said. "You either love the game or you don't. Playing games isn't bad. It's better than practicing right now. We're all kind of tired of practices. 

"We give the guys days off and I hope they use those days off wisely," he added. "The important thing in February is to have your legs and I think we have our legs." 

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Nixa 72, Ozark 41

OZARK (41) — Cline 4 1-1 9. Harmon 4 1-2 9, Flavin 4 0-0 10, Ballard 1 0-0 2, Cox 0 0-1 0, Voysey 1 0-0 2, Weston 3 0-0 6. J. Whatley 1 1-2 3. Totals 18 3-6 41.

NIXA (72) — Ruffin 4 1-2 13, Turner 3 0-0 7, Bray 2 0-0 4, Combs 3 5-6 13, Sorgenfrei 3 0-1 6, Wofford 1 0-0 3, Nelson 3 3-4 9, Jones 7 2-2 16, Berry 0 1-2 1. Totals 26 12-17 72. 

Ozark  6   6  15 14 - 41

Nixa   17 18 14 23 - 72

3-point goals - Ruffin 4, Combs 2, Flavin 2, Wofford, Turner. 

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