The Nixa Eagles competed in the Liberty North Invitational Tournament on Dec. 5-8 and were crowned champions after three big wins in a highly competitive tournament. The Eagles appeared in its second-straight tournament title game in two weeks, as Nixa finished runners-up in the Willard Classic the previous week. Nixa's journey in the classic included knocking off the Bolivar (73-43) and Harrison, Ark. (76-50) while falling to Bentonville, Ark. in the championship game in an intense back-and-forth battle 54-48.

Nixa entered the Liberty North Invitational on Dec. 5 as the defending champions with a record of 2-1. The Eagles first game of the tournament versus St. Joe Benton late Tuesday evening returned Nixa into the win column with a 68-51 victory over the Cardinals. It was a solid response and performance by the Eagles after dropping their first regular season game in the Brock Blansit era to the Bentonville.

The Eagles started slow offensively, with their first point coming from a Jackson Cantwell free throw a little under two minutes into the opening quarter. St. Joe responded with a five-point run and led 5-1 early. Then, freshman Adam McKnight halted the run with 5:30 left in the opening period by tallying his first points and rebounds. McKnight crashed the paint and corralled a missed shot by the Eagles, and was fouled. McKnight went one-for-two from the line and on his missed freebie, grabbed the rebound and scored an easy two, making it a 5-4 game in favor of the Cardinals.

Lane Meltabarger was substituted for Cantwell with 3:30 left, providing a momentum-swinging spark. Meltabarger scored five points immediately, swishing home a 3-pointer from the wing on his first shot of the game and then a putback from the block. Nixa trailed 12-11 with 2:27 following Meltabarger's five.

The Eagles ended the first on a 6-0 run with baskets by Randy Flint, Keivon Flint, and Wyatt Vincent, taking a 17-12 lead.

The second quarter was eight minutes of traded baskets and tough defense. Midway through the quarter, a loose ball on the Cardinals' possession forced a St. Joe timeout, which was well-needed for both teams. The Eagles hadn't scored in almost two minutes, as Meltabarger and Randy Flint were Nixa's only baskets leading up to that point. The Cardinals tied the game out of the timeout, but Josh Peters responded with Nixa's following four points, giving the Eagles the advantage again. Nixa led 25-21 with three minutes left in the opening half and went into the intermission leading 29-23, thanks to baskets from Garrett Hines and McKnight.

Out of the break, it took nearly a minute for the first points to be scored until the Cardinals sank two free throws, cutting its deficit to 29-25. Both teams exchanged buckets on their next possessions. With Nixa leading 33-30 and 5:30 left in the third, Peters swished home a 3-pointer and forced a Benton timeout. From there, the Eagles would go on a 12-2 run, keeping the opposition scoreless for three minutes. 

McKnight gave the Eagles its first double-digit lead with a little under three minutes remaining, as point guard Devon Kemp found McKnight in transition on the block, and he converted the layup over the St. Joe defender. Immediately following, the Eagles half-court trap defense forced a Cardinal turnover, which led to a Randy Flint basket, extending Nixa's advantage to 45-32. Keivon Flint scored the quarter's final points just before the buzzer, as his brother, Randy, drove to the lane, drew defenders, leaving Keivon wide open at the block, and dished to Keivon for an easy two layup.

Nixa led St. Joe 49-37 after three quarters.

The Eagles 12-point advantage entering the fourth would eventually be too much for the Cardinals to overcome, as Nixa outscored St. Joe 19-14 in the final quarter, propelled by McKnight's (8) and Hines' (5) combined 13 points. 

Nixa held onto a double-digit lead for the duration of the quarter and upped its advantage to the largest of the game, 19, with a Garrett Hines' 3-pointer and a McKnight basket at the block, making it 64-45, Nixa, with 2:20 left. Hines notched the game's final points with 25 seconds remaining on a transition layup, cementing Nixa's 68-51 opening-round victory.

McKnight led the charge offensively, tallying a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Peters and Meltabarger contributed double figures as well, finishing with 11 each.

The win advances Nixa (3-1) to the semifinals on Dec. 7, where they face Washington (KS), who defeated tournament-host Liberty North in overtime 65-60.

Box Score
Nixa 17 | 12 | 20 | 19 | 68
St. Joe Benton 12 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 51

Nixa Individual Scorers: McKnight (18), Meltabarger (11), Peters (11), Hines (9), K. Flint (6), R. Flint (6), Cantwell (3), Vincent (2), Foster (2)
 

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Eagle overcome shooting woes, tops Washington (KS) to advance to the Liberty North championship game

Following a 68-51 victory over St. Joe Benton in the opening round, Nixa sought to return to the Liberty North Invitational championship game for the second straight year. Standing in the Eagles' way were the Washington Wildcats (KS) in a rematch of the 2022 first-round contest. Nixa won the meeting 78-68 before kickstarting their championship run a year ago.

Despite the Eagles' shooting drought, freshman Adam Mcknight took charge in the 69-53 win over the Wildcats, dropping 20 points and sending Nixa to the title game.

It took two minutes for the opening points, but Nixa struck first, as Josh Peters knocked down two free throws, and Jackson Cantwell overpowered his defender on his post-up and laid in the easy two off the glass, putting the Eagles up 4-0 early in the first. 

Then, the Eagles went scoreless on its next four possessions, and the Wildcats took advantage by breaking their scoring drought and responding with a 7-0 run. However, that was the only lead Washington would enjoy on the night. 

Randy Flint broke Nixa's dry spell with a mid-ranger floater over a Washington defender's hand, and Wyatt Vincent regained the lead for Nixa on its next possession with a corner 3-pointer, and it was 9-6, Nixa. Vincent scored the quarter's final points with another trey out of a perfectly executed inbounds play drawn up by the Eagles.

Nixa entered the second quarter with a 14-9 advantage.

After a scoreless first quarter, the McKnight takeover began. He started the second by scoring Nixa's first six points in the period with layups inside the paint coming off assists from Bryce Foster and Peters. McKnight catapulted Nixa to a 20-11 lead with 5:45 left in the first half, forcing a Washington timeout.

Midway through the second, Vincent was left wide open in the corner and drilled another 3-pointer to give the Eagles their first double-digit lead of the game, 25-15. Garrett Hines extended the Eagles lead to 12 on Nixa's next possession with a mid-range jumper.

Devon Kemp recorded Nixa's last points of the first half with a deep ball from behind the arc, extending the Eagles' lead to the largest of the game, 32-17.

Washington made a free throw with under a minute remaining in the half but was outscored 18-7 in the period and went into the intermission trailing 32-18.

Cantwell kicked off the second half scoring with a layup coming off an assist from McKnight, and Peters gave the Eagles its first 20-plus lead with a pair of freebies from the charity stripe, increasing Nixa's lead to 40-19 early in the third. McKnight corralled an offensive rebound on the Eagles' next possession, converted the putback, and was fouled. He sank the free throw for the 3-point play and put the Eagles up by 22, 43-21, with roughly five minutes remaining.

McKnight would end the third quarter with nine of the Eagles' 19 points.

Washington continued to battle, though. The Wildcats would go on another 7-0 run late in the quarter and nailed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the third, cutting its deficit to 51-40 with momentum on its side.

Nixa struggled to get its offense rolling in the fourth, and slowly but surely, the Wildcats started chipping away at the Eagles' lead. Washington started the fourth on a 6-0 run and trailed by only five with 6:20 remaining.

The two-minute Eagles' dry spell was finally halted with a Kemp three from the wing and a Hines' mid-range jumper on the following possession, placing the Eagles back up by double-digits with 5:20 left, 56-46.

From there, the defensive pressure amped up for the Eagles, and Nixa held onto its double-digit advantage for the game's duration. A technical foul by the Wildcats with 3:41 left, which sent Peters to the charity stripe for a pair of freebies, ultimately shifted momentum entirely and sealed the victory. 

Peters went one-of-two from the line, and then, a 3-point play from McKnight put the Eagles up 62-48.

Free throws were the game's final points. Bryce Foster nailed two for Nixa's 68th and 69th points at the 23.7-second mark, and the Wildcats made a lone freebie for its 53rd score.

McKnight (20) and Peters (13) were the top scorers for the Eagles, as both notched double-figures

Nixa's 69-53 win over the Wildcats advances the Eagles to 4-1 and secures a spot in a tournament championship game for the second time this season, vying to hoist their first title of the 2023-24 season. 

Eagles will attempt to defend their 2022 Liberty North Invitational championship in a rematch with Park Hill (2-1), who earned its spot in the final with a 54-47 semifinal victory over Basehor Linwood.

Box Score:
Nixa 14 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 69
Washington 11 | 7 |  22 | 13 | 53

Nixa Individual Scorers: McKnight (20), Peters (13), Kemp (9), Vincent (9), Cantwell (4), K. Flint (4), Foster (4), Hines (4), R. Flint (2)
 

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Nixa defends Liberty North Invitational title in a 2022 rematch 

The Nixa Eagles and Park Hill Trojans returned to the Liberty North Invitational championship for the second consecutive year in a rematch of the 2022 title game, which saw Nixa hoist the trophy in a contest that came down to the final seconds.

A year ago, Nixa defeated Park Hill 77-75, where the Eagles witnessed a Trojan volleyball line 3-point attempt hit the front of the rim at the buzzer.

In this go-around, the Eagles ensured their fate wouldn't come down to the last shot, as Nixa ousted Park Hill, behind the double-double performance from Jackson Cantwell, 66-49, to repeat as champions.

For the first time all tournament, the Eagles surrendered the opening points with a lay-up by the opposition. But that was quickly answered on the ensuing Eagles' possession with a deep Devon Kemp 3-pointer. 

With 5:43 left in the first and the Eagles leading by three, the historic night for Cantwell began. He received a pass from Adam McKnight, posted up his defender, dropped stepped, and laid the ball in off the glass for two points, extending the Eagles lead to 9-4. Cantwell went on to score 10 points in the game.

Both teams would spark runs in the late stages of the opening quarter. Park Hill made back-to-back 3s to trim the Eagles lead to 11-10 and tied the game at 14-14 with under three minutes left, but eventually, it was closest the Trojans would be to the lead for the rest of the night.

Nixa went on a 5-2 run to end the period with a free throw from McKnight and Keivon Flint and a 3-pointer from Bryce Foster. 

The Eagles lead 19-16 after one.

To start the second, Peters got the Eagles on the board first with a tough finish at the glass from an inbound pass from Kemp, putting Nixa up 21-16. Each team would proceed to exchange basket for basket, and Nixa carried a five-point advantage for most of the period up until the midway point. 

Then, the Eagles began to shift the momentum at a pivotal time due to the 6-foot-8 presence of Cantwell. He grabbed the defensive rebound on a Park Hill missed free throw to start the transition attack and then snatched two more on the offensive side, leading to an easy layup and giving Nixa a seven-point advantage, 28-21, with roughly two minutes left in the first half.

On the Eagles' next possession, another big rebound from Cantwell to extend the drive eventually led to a corner 3-pointer by Peters for the half's final points.

Nixa went into the intermission leading 31-23. 

Peters picked up right where he left off out of the break. As Cantwell was posting up his defender inside the paint, he attempted to go up for a shot, but mid-air dished it to a wide-open Peters from behind the arc, who nailed the trey and got the Eagles their first double-digit advantage. Peters returned the favor on the Eagles following points, as he drove to the lane and found Kemp alone in the corner, who made the deep ball, extending Nixa's lead to largest of the contest, 14, 37-23, early in the third.

Despite the deficit, Park Hill kept battling and sparked a run of their own late in the third. 

The Trojans brought the game within single figures on a transition attack with 1:50 left, forcing a Nixa timeout with a 45-37 lead.

The two teams traded baskets out of the timeout, but Randy Flint dealt the quarter's final blow with ten seconds remaining. Foster drove to the hoop on the baseline and found Randy Flint in the corner, who swished in the 3-pointer, putting Nixa up 52-39 heading into the final period.

Nixa's defense locked down Park Hill in the early quarter stages while the offense played a complementary role. The Eagles kept the Trojans scoreless for nearly two and a half minutes until Park Hill finally found the netting with a 3-pointer at the 5:32 mark but found themselves trailing 56-42 with the clock not in its favor.

Foster answered with a deep ball of his own and gave the Eagles its largest margin of 17 with five minutes remaining. Following, the Trojans saw another offensive drought, and it took nearly two minutes to score again.

With three minutes left, Nixa led 61-47, victory was in sight, and the Eagles began to melt the clock with long possessions. McKnight and Peters tallied Nixa's final points of the evening and sealed the Eagles' 66-49 victory and back-to-back championships.

The big-game performance from Cantwell, who finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, was a difference-maker all night. Peters (16) and Kemp (10) also posted double figures. McKnight (15.3 PPG) and Peters (13.3 PPG) were tabbed with All-Tournament team selections. 

The Eagles second straight title advances Nixa to 5-1 and returns to the court on Dec. 13 at Kickapoo. 

Box Score:
Nixa 19 | 12 | 21 | 14 | 66
Park Hill 16 | 7 | 16 | 10 | 49

Nixa Individual Scorers: Peters (16), Kemp (10), Cantwell (10), R. Flint (7), Foster (6), McKnight (6), Hines (4), Vincent (4), K. Flint (3)