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New starters, newcomers and new head coach all winners for Nixa in season-opener

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WILLARD — Nixa senior guard Corey Kemp’s first unofficial start led to his first official start.

Wednesday was a night full of firsts for the Eagles in their season-opening 83-40 first-round whippin’ of Flippin, Arkansas, at the Willard Tournament.

Kemp learned he would be part of Nixa’s starting five for the first time when Eagles coach Brock Blansit met with his players for a pre-game huddle in their locker room.

“It was a great feeling,” Kemp said. “I kind of felt like I was going to (start). I was excited and ready to go out there.”

Blansit related Kemp may not have been in his projected starting lineup before the season began, but that he had earned a starting nod over the course of the season's first month.

“I would say he’s been one of the bigger surprises in a positive way for us the first three weeks of practices,” Blansit said. “He gets his hands on a lot of balls, is shooting the ball well and has been a senior leader. He’s had a great start for us and is going to have a great season.”

Kemp solidified his starting status in Nixa’s jamboree at Kickapoo two weeks ago against the host Chiefs and Bolivar.

“He had a really good jamboree. Several people asked me who he was,” Blansit said.

“I thought I performed very well at the jamboree,” Kemp said. “I was able to shoot the ball, had a block (on Kickapoo 6-foot-7 center Harrison Doennig), had good help-side defense and I was a leader out there and communicated well with my teammates.”

Kemp is making a big jump. He saw action in only 15 of Nixa's 30 games last season, as he primarily gained reps at the junior-varsity level. All along, he was determined to wait his turn and continue working.

“Patience was a big thing,” he said. “I was telling myself I could do it. This is very important to me. I’m wanting to play college basketball and this is the next step toward doing that.”

Blansit values all he feels Kemp will bring to the Eagles.

“He never gets tired. I swear he could play all 32 minutes and not get tired,” Blansit said. “Today, we put him on one of (Flippin’s) better players and that’s something he will be able to do this year. He’s got some size and athleticism, he’s quick and is a good rebounder. He’ll also do a lot of things that don’t show up on the stat sheet.”

Kemp started the past two seasons for Nixa’s soccer team as a forward. He had three goals and five assists this year. Even though playing time and success came earlier for him in soccer than basketball, he’s never wavered on which is his favorite sport. 

“People who know me know basketball is my first sport,” Kemp said. “Basketball has my heart and always will.”

Kemp being rewarded for his persistence made for a feel-good story Wednesday. But as he pointed out, Nixa had two other players who made their first varsity start. Many others saw their first significant varsity playing time.  And, of course, it was Blansit's head coaching debut.

“I’m not alone in this,” said Kemp, who had four points.

Garrett Hines, a junior, scored 18 points in his first varsity start and Josh Peters, also a junior, had 10 points in his first varsity start.

The Eagles’ old man, four-year starter Kael Combs, topped everyone with 23 points.

Nixa was five-out all night, while playing without centers Daniel McCoy and Jackson Cantwell.

“It’s all new to these guys and it was pretty ugly at times,” Blansit said. “But the effort was good. As a coach, that’s the number one thing we’re looking for.”

What Nixa showed off that was most compelling was full-court pressure. It quickly became obvious Blansit will like for the Eagles to apply defensive pressure from one end of the court to the other.

‘That’s something we’re going to do quite a bit,” the former 19-year Nixa assistant said. “Obviously, there might be some teams we can’t do it against as much. But we’re trying to get the game sped up as much as possible. Running up and down the floor is going to be our strength and we’re going to be a good shooting team.”

Nixa advances to semifinal action at 8:30 p.m. Friday and will meet Thursday’s Springfield Central-Harrison, Arkansas, winner.

Nixa 83, Flippin 40

FLIPPIN (40) — Rogers 1 0-0 2, Robins 5 2-3 13, Downs 1 0-0 3, Henley 1 0-0 2, Aldridge 2 4-6 8, Glenn 4 1-4 12.

NIXA (83) — Combs 9 2-2 23, Green 1 0-0 2, Engelman 1 2-3 4, Tyler 0 2-2 2, Seitz 3 0-0 7, C. Kemp 1 2-5 4, James 2 0-1 4, Chainey 2 0-2 6, Hines 7 0-0 18, Peters 3 1-2 10, D. Kemp 1 1-2 3, 

Flippin 10  8 19  3 - 40

Nixa      28 18 28 9 - 83

3-point goals - Hines 4, Peters 3, Combs 3, Chainey 2, Robbins, Seitz, Downs.


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