Joplin and Webb City are an even 5-5 against one another since December of 2017, but not for long. The Joplin Eagles will head out on the road to challenge the Webb City Cardinals at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Friday, Joplin came up short against Willard and fell 74-63. 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 296th, while Willard is ranked 60th).
Meanwhile, Webb City entered their tilt with Republic with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. Webb City walked away with a 77-65 victory over Republic on Friday. The score was all tied up 32-32 at the break, but Webb City was the better team in the second half.
Webb City's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Eli Pace, who scored 16 points along with seven assists and four steals. Pace is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Holton Keith, who scored 13 points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Joplin's defeat dropped their record down to 5-19. As for Webb City, their victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-5.
Joplin came up short against Webb City in their previous meeting back in January, falling 58-50. Can Joplin avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
