Basketball Game Recap: Joplin Eagles vs. McDonald County Mustangs

By Team Reports Feb 23, 2024, 12:39pm

Recap: Joplin Eagles vs. McDonald County Mustangs

The Joplin Eagles were not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their sixth straight defeat. They were the victim of a rough 59-38 defeat at the hands of McDonald County. While losing is never fun, Joplin can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Missouri basketball rankings (they are ranked 350th, while McDonald County is ranked 77th).

McDonald County's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Dakota O'brien led the charge by scoring 23 points along with six rebounds and six steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which O'brien has scored at least a third of McDonald County's points. Another player making a difference was Carlie Martin, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten rebounds.

Joplin's loss dropped their record down to 4-17. As for McDonald County, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 13 of their last 15 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 21-7 record this season.

Joplin will look to defend their home court on Wednesday against Lee's Summit North at 3:30 p.m. As for McDonald County, they will head out on the road to square off against Carl Junction at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Hopefully McDonald County focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 on Thursday.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps