Central and Nixa Win Titles at the 78th Annual Greenwood Blue and Gold Basketball Tournament

The number one seeds prevail as the Nixa Eagles and the Central Bulldogs win championships Friday night at the 78th Annual Greenwood Blue and Gold Basketball Tournament at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield.

The Central Bulldogs take the Gold Division first place trophy, downing the Glendale Falcons 77-47.

For Central, it’s their first Blue and Gold championship since 1983.

Central took control of the title game early, outscoring the Falcons 20-4 in the opening quarter before taking a 41-26 lead at the half.

The championship game ended with a turbo clock as the Bulldogs went ahead by 30 points.

Bryce Walker scores 29 points to lead the Bulldogs, with Keion Epps adding 24 points.

In the Blue Division, the top seeded Nixa Eagles pulled away in the final quarter to defeat second seeded Republic 59-48.

Second year head coach and longtime Nixa assistant Brock Blansit improves to 8-0 as a head coach in the Blue and Gold Tournament.

The Tigers went ahead 13-9 after one quarter, with the two teams knotted 24-24 at the half.

The Eagles held a 38-36 lead going to the final quarter, and were able to get the lead to double digits late.

Three players scored in double figures for the Eagles, including Devon Kemp with 14, freshman Adam McKnight with 12, and Josh Peters with 10 points.

Brenley Hagewood led the Tigers with 20 points.

In the Gold Division 3rd place game, the Sparta Spartans topped the Branson Pirates 68-47.

The Spartans held a 15-10 lead after one quarter before outscoring the Pirates 19-9 in the second frame to go up 34-19 at halftime.

Sparta then extended its lead in the second half, thanks in large part to the play of 6-5 senior Jacob Lafferty, who poured in 36 points to lead all scorers.

Nolan Tolliver’s 19 points led Branson.

The Willard Tigers edged Fair Grove 56-53 in the Blue Division 3rd place game, the only overtime contest of this year’s tournament.

Fair Grove held the lead for a good portion of the game, going up 11-9 after one quarter and 25-20 at the half.

The Eagles led by five, 37-32, after three quarters.

The Tigers grabbed a 47-45 lead in the final minute, but Nolan Geitz got a layup for Fair Grove to knot the game 47-47 with 4.7 seconds left in regulation.

Braxton Boyer’s layup with 31 seconds left in OT gave Willard a 54-53 lead.

Fair Grove had a couple of attempts both inside and beyond the arc to try to tie the game or take the lead, but were unsuccessful.

Willard’s Drew Quinlan hit a layup with four seconds left that made it a 56-53 contest.

The Eagles had a cross court pass intercepted by the Tigers in the closing seconds.

Here are the scores from the final round of the 78th Annual Greenwood Blue and Gold Tournament:

Gold Division 3rd Place Game (Great Southern Bank Arena):

Final: (4) Sparta 68, (7) Branson 47 (Jacob Lafferty scores 36 for Sparta)

Blue Division 3rd Place Game (Great Southern Bank Arena):

Final: (Overtime): (6) Willard 56, (5) Fair Grove 53 (Braxton Boyer leads the Tigers to an OT win, scoring 15 points. Spensar Seiger scored 17 to lead the Eagles).

Gold Division Championship Game (Great Southern Bank Arena):

Final: (1) Springfield Central 77, (3) Springfield Glendale 47 (Bryce Walker and Keion Epps light up the scoreboard for the Bulldogs, with Walker scoring 29 points and Epps adding 24).

Blue Division Championship Game (Great Southern Bank Arena):

Final: (1) Nixa 59, (2) Republic 48 (Devon Kemp, Adam McKnight and Josh Peters score in double figures as the Eagles win their second consecutive tournament championship).

Gold Division Consolation Finals (Hammons Student Center):

Final: Marshfield 72, Willow Springs 59 (Marshfield’s Merrick Dennis scores 22 points, nailing six three pointers. Sophomore Kolby James scores 31 points for the Bears in a losing effort).

Blue Division Consolation Finals (Hammons Student Center):

Final: Bolivar 52, (8) Lebanon 41 (The Liberators jumped out to a 13-3 lead after one quarter, then held on to beat the Yellow Jackets. Bolivar’s Dameon Young scored 21 points to lead the Liberators).

Gold Division 5th Place Game (Hammons Student Center):

Final: (5) Greenwood 72, (2) Ozark 61 (The host Blue Jays get 26 points from Logan Sanders and another 21 from Collin Clark to take the 5th place trophy).

Blue Division 5th Place Game (Hammons Student Center):

Final: (4) Rogersville 46, (3) Hartville 38 (Chase Branum scores 15 to lead the Wildcats).