Results, scores from the 2021 Blue and Gold Tournament semifinals Wednesday

Wyatt D. Wheeler, Springfield News-Leader
·8 min read

Goodnight!

We'll be back at it tomorrow night for the championship games! Thanks for following along. We'll have the live blog up around 6:45 p.m.

  • Blue Division — 7 p.m. No. 2 Kickapoo vs. No. 4 Catholic

  • Gold Division — 8:30 p.m. No. 1 Bolivar vs. No. 2 Ozark

BLUE DIVISION: Takeaways from Catholic, Kickapoo semifinal wins

GOLD DIVISION: Takeaways from Bolivar, Ozark semifinal wins

Blue and Gold Tournament 2021: Here were the top performers of the semifinals

Final Ozark 55 Republic 45

Ozark pulls off a gritty win over Republic! Ozark couldn't buy a basket in the first quarter and was behind double digits. Ozark comes back and pulls away in the fourth to advance to the Gold title game.

4Q 1:03 Ozark 49 Republic 42

Brenley Hagewood fouled on a 3-point attempt. Made two of three.

4Q 1:30 Ozark 49 Republic 40

Colton Ballard free throws.

4Q 1:57 Ozark 47 Republic 40

Ethan Whatley free throws.

4Q 2:25 Ozark 45 Republic 40

Lots of empty possessions and wasted opportunities for Republic late. Not getting the best looks.

4Q 2:56 Ozark 45 Republic 40

Ozark trying to waste a lot of clock late.

4Q 4:32 Ozark 45 Republic 40

Jordan Douglas' 3 gives RepMo some life.

4Q 5:30 Ozark 45 Republic 37

Ozark starting to pull away in the fourth quarter. Gritty performance by the Tigers in red.

4Q 6:54 Ozark 40 Republic 35

Ozark up to its biggest lead of the game at five after a 3.

End 3Q Ozark 35 Republic 33

We have a nice little rock fight here in the second half.

3Q 3:41 Ozark 29 Republic 27

It's been this close throughout the third quarter. Should be a fun nightcap!

Halftime Republic 25 Ozark 25

We have a tied game! Great run from Ozark to end the half when it looked like it was dead.

RepMo's Kamari Edwards leads the game with eight points.

2Q 1:16 Republic 25 Ozark 21

Ozark is alive and we have a ballgame. Kamari Edwards just picked up his third foul and that's one Republic can't afford to lose. Need that size inside.

2Q 4:29 Republic 16 Ozark 9

Not much has changed.

End 1Q Republic 10 Ozark 3

Not the Ozark team we're used to seeing so far. Kamari Edwards and Ahlante Askew each have four.

1Q 2:45 Republic 8 Ozark 0

RepMo off to a quick start with Kamari Edwards and Ahlante Askew scoring four each.

Final Bolivar 70 Greenwood 39

The turbo-clock sends Bolivar to the Gold Division title game. Bolivar had too much size and too much good shooting from Cooper Cribbs to win it.

End 3Q Bolivar 52 Greenwood 30

Cooper Cribbs has been on absolute fire for the Liberators. It's raining 3's.

3Q 1:30 Bolivar 47 Greenwood 30

Burn the Boats! Bolivar is on a roll and appears to be destined for the championship game. The Liberators look a lot better than they did yesterday.

Blue Division semifinals

More: Blue and Gold Tournament 2021: Takeaways from Catholic, Kickapoo semifinal wins

Halftime Bolivar 33 Greenwood 22

Bolivar has been in control of this one since the opening tip.

2Q 1:25 Bolivar 31 Greenwood 19

2Q 6:06 Bolivar 17 Greenwood 13

Final Kickapoo 54 Hartville 35

One of Kickapoo's two losses a season ago came against Hartville. The Chiefs left no doubt in this one.

No. 2 Kickapoo vs. No. 4 Catholic in the Blue Division championship tomorrow night.

End 3Q Kickapoo 47 Hartville 28

Allllllll Kickapoo. The Chiefs will likely have a Blue Division championship matchup with Catholic.

Halftime Kickapoo 35 Hartville 17

16-4 run for the Chiefs to end the half. Good adjustments from McHenry and has Hartville off its game.

Brayden Shorter has 12 points.

2Q 4:45 Kickapoo 19 Hartville 13

Slowly but surely, the Eagles are climbing their way back into this game.

End 1Q Kickapoo 17 Hartville 8

Eagles are settled in but they're going to have to battle their way back in after falling behind early.

1Q 5:43 Kickapoo 7 Hartville 0

Chiefs allllllll over Hartville in the early minutes. Zaide Lowery already with four.

Final Catholic 49 Nixa 48

4Q 21.8 Catholic 49 Nixa 48

Zach Howell picks up his fourth foul. Kael Combs splits his free throws. Ball goes out of bounds off Catholic on the inbounds pass.

4Q 35.9 Catholic 49 Nixa 47

Ty Lyon misses his free throws after a quick Nixa foul.

4Q 36.3 Catholic 49 Nixa 47

Ruffin called for a charge when going to the basket.

4Q 44.7 Catholic 49 Nixa 47

Colin Ruffin layup after a pair of Howell free throws. Catholic turns it over. Ruffin splits free throws. Nixa rebounds.

4Q 1:35 Catholic 47 Nixa 44

Zach Howell missed the front-end of a one-and-one when Nixa had its entire team back. Nixa watched the ball bounce and Howell got the rebound before he called a timeout.

4Q 2:44 Catholic 47 Nixa 44

Colin Ruffin has now caught fire and he knocks down a 3. He has 21 points.

4Q 2:58 Catholic 46 Nixa 41

Not so fast? Quick Nixa run after Ruffin gets a layup to fall through contact. Missed his free throw.

4Q 4:05 Catholic 44 Nixa 37

ANOTHER Zach Howell triple. He has five from deep.

4Q 5:22 Catholic 41 Nixa 32

Back-to-back Zach Howell 3-pointers and he's up to 28 points. He's been special tonight.

4Q 6:32 Catholic 35 Nixa 32

Colin Ruffin and Zach Howell exchange layups.

End 3Q Catholic 33 Nixa 30

Headed to what should be a thrilling fourth quarter. High-level game between two of the area's best.

Zach Howell is up to 20 points for the Fightin' Irish.

3Q 1:37 Catholic 31 Nixa 27

Nixa switches to Kael Combs guarding Zach Howell. Howell draws contact and sinks his free throws. He has 18.

3Q 1:54 Catholic 29 Nixa 27

Liam O'Reilly picks up his fourth foul. That's an important, athletic defensive player who has to sit for a little bit.

3Q 2:30 Catholic 27 Nixa 25

Nixa turning up the pressure defensively. A steal on the inbounds turns into two points from Ruffin who has 10.

3Q 2:43 Catholic 27 Nixa 23

Zach Howell up to 14 points. Nixa finally made both of its free throws.

3Q 5:41 Catholic 23 Nixa 18

Zach Howell adds a second 3-pointer. Nixa not taking care of the ball early in the half.

Halftime Catholic 18 Nixa 16

We're getting the close game we expected with Catholic up at the break. Zach Howell with seven points. Colin Ruffin with six at the break.

Free throw shooting has been horrendous on both sides.

2Q 3:29 Catholic 16 Nixa 12

Eagles struggling with free throws early. Lots of points left off the board.

End 1Q Catholic 9 Nixa 6

Solid, up-tempo game to start this one. Ty Lyon leads with six points. Kael Combs has four.

1Q 2:00 Catholic 8 Nixa 6

Catholic with a quick 4-0 run behind a pair of Ty Lyon drives to the lane.

1Q 3:41 Nixa 6 Catholic 4

Back-and-forth early on. Kael Combs with four after knocking down a pair of technical free throws.

Welcome!

We've reached the semifinal round of the 2021 Blue and Gold Tournament and we're in for a loaded night.

Four games will decide who will play in the two championship games on Thursday night at JQH Arena.

For the first game of the evening, Nixa will face Catholic with some of the top prospects in the region taking the floor. Nixa's Colin Ruffin and Kael Combs will take on Catholic's Zach Howell in a star-studded showdown.

Follow this page throughout the night for the latest from JQH Arena.

Tuesday's coverage

Wednesday's Blue and Gold Tournament schedule

Blue Division winner's (JQH)

4 p.m. — No. 1 Nixa vs. No. 4 Catholic

5:30 p.m. — No. 2 Kickapoo vs. No. 6 Hartville

Gold Division winner's (JQH)

7 p.m. — No. 1 Bolivar vs. No. 5 Greenwood

8:30 p.m. — No. 2 Ozark vs. No. 4 Republic

Blue Division fifth-place (Hammons)

12:30 p.m. — No. 8 Fair Grove vs. Marshfield

2 p.m. — No. 3 Willard vs. No. 7 Branson

Gold Division fifth-place (Hammons)

7 p.m. — No. 4 Strafford vs. Central

8:30 p.m. — No. 3 Ava vs. No. 7 Logan-Rogersville

Blue consolation (Hammons)

9:30 a.m. — No. 5 Skyline vs. Ash Grove

11 a.m. — Mountain Grove vs. West Plains

Gold consolation (Hammons)

4 p.m. — Aurora vs. Spokane

5:30 p.m. — Crane vs. Stockton

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Blue and Gold Tournament 2021: Scores and results Wednesday