NIXA, Mo. -- The 85th annual Nixa Invitational got off to a roaring start on Thursday evening, as the Billings Wildcats used an incredible shooting performance to race past the Harrisonville Wildcats 77-59.
The first quarter was hotly contested, as Harrisonville led 24-20 after one quarter of play on the strength of 6'6 big man Dallas Stackhouse’s performance. Chad Yeokum and Kaleb Harter would bring the Billings Wildcats back into the game in the second quarter, however, as Yeokum scored ten first-half points.
Billings got hot from the field in the second quarter, as they outscored Harrisonville 20-8 and went into halftime with a 40-32 lead. Dallas Stackhouse helped keep Harrisonville in the game, as he scored ten points in the first two quarters on several strong interior post moves.
Billings would continue their strong play in the third quarter, as the Wildcats scored twenty points for the third consecutive quarter (outscoring Harrisonville 20-13) to take a 60-45 lead after three quarters of play. Billings was able to maintain a fast and frenetic pace of play throughout the entire second half, and Harrisonville appeared to run out of steam as the game wore on into the fourth quarter.
The pace of this game, reminiscent of Nolan Richardson's Arkansas teams of the 1990s, slowed down in the fourth quarter as Billings outscored Harrisonville 17-14 to secure an easy 77-59 first round victory over Harrisonville.
Kaleb Harter led Billings with 19 points, and Chad Yeokum scored 17. Dawson Meyer added 15 points and Brady Chastain scored 13 to give Billings four players in double figures. For Harrisonville, Dallas Stackhouse scored 16, Luke Cooper 13, Mason Saffels 11, and Matthew Prindle 10.
Harrisonville will play in the consolation bracket Friday at 6:00 p.m versus Hickman, while Billings will play Nixa in the winner’s bracket at 7:30.
