By: Jason Peake

The Webb City Cardinals ended a two-game skid in a big way.

Propelled by a huge second quarter, Webb City cruised to a convincing 81-43 victory over Cassville on Friday night inside the Cardinal Dome.

It's safe to say the Cardinals got well at home after road losses at Carthage and Rogers Heritage.

"It was good to be back at home," Webb City coach Jason Horn said. "We had a rough stretch of two games. We played two good opponents, including a rival in a championship game. You could tell fatigue was setting in and we weren't as sharp as we needed to be. It was good to play at home and get some confidence back."

The Cardinals (4-2) were clinging to a 24-16 advantage at the end of the first quarter, as the Wildcats stayed within striking distance.

But the Cardinals picked up the defensive pressure and sped up the game. As a result, the hosts began the second period on a game-changing 14-2 surge for a 38-18 lead. 

During the spurt, Gabe Johnson and Holton Keith both knocked down 3-pointers before the hosts converted several steals into easy transition layups thanks to their defensive pressure.

"Early on, Cassville played well and did a good job of bothering some of our shots," Horn said. "We thought our pace would wear on them. We knew we needed to play up-tempo. We were able to get some steals and defensive rebounds and get out ahead and get a lot of easy looks."

Overall, Webb City outscored Cassville 30-8 in the one-sided second quarter for a commanding 54-24 halftime advantage.

"That's our second 30-point quarter and we've had a 29-point quarter, so that shows we can be explosive," Horn said. "We want to see that for four quarters, maybe not at the 30-point range, but we don't want to see any droughts like we had in our last two games."

Webb City held a comfortable 75-38 lead by the end of the third quarter and the final outcome was never in doubt in the final frame.

"This is a game we can build on," Horn said. "Everything offensively will get better. Our timing will get better, and our legs will get better with time. We're going to get a lot more practice time from here on out and I think we'll clean up a lot of things. I think we'll be a much-better team down the stretch." 

Junior guard Holton Keith scored 21 points to lead the Cardinals. Keith, who scored 19 points in the first half, also had seven steals. 

"He did a good job of playing defense with his hands wide and he did a good job of getting in the passing lane," Horn said of Keith. "He was picking passes off and he was finishing. He's shooting the ball well from 3. He's worked on his release and his layups." 

Also for the Cardinals' balanced attack, senior Barron Duda scored 16 points, sophomore Trae Turner had 10 points and senior Omari Jackson and junior Eli Pace contributed nine points apiece. 

Johnson chipped in six points and five steals.

The Cardinals made 48 percent of their field goal attempts (33 of 68). Webb City was credited with 22 steals.

Cassville (4-4) received 13 points and 11 rebounds from Eli Stokes and 12 points from Simon Gates. 

The Wildcats hit 15 of 33 shots (45 percent) but had 39 turnovers to Webb City's seven.

Webb City hosts Seneca (3-3) on Thursday.