Standing out among the fan base on hand for Nixa’s Class 6 Quarterfinal conquest of Lee’s Summit West on Saturday was former Eagles star Jalen Norman.
Norman was there to cheer on his alma mater and younger brother, junior swingman Kael Combs.
A full decade ago, Combs was 7 years old and cheering on Norman and Nixa at the Class 5 Final Four in Columbia.
“I remember it was great basketball,” Combs recalled of his visit to Mizzou Arena as a wide-eyed first-grader. “It was a great atmosphere and great teams were everywhere.”
Combs and his running ‘mates have earned the chance to experience the Final Four big stage themselves. Nixa (27-3) will tip off against Staley (26-4) in a 6 p.m. in a Class 6 semifinal Thursday at JHQ Arena.
The Eagles will be back at State for the first time since Norman’s bunch made it to the Class 5 title tilt in 2012.
“I’m happy for these guys to experience it,” coach Jay Osborne said.
“This means a ton to me, especially with it being my brother’s team the last time we went to State,” Combs said. “We know now we’re a special group.”
Nixa wasn’t feeling so special one Saturday afternoon in late January. Since suffering a 26-point loss to Blair Oaks in the final of the Nixa Invitational Tournament, the Eagles have won 11 straight.
Final Four teams often look back on their season and point to a loss that was a turning point. The Eagles were certainly humbled by Blair Oaks and have since responded in championship form.
“That game was an anomaly,” Osborne said. “They were really good and I don’t know what happened to us in the second half of that game. We shut it down. Maybe we learned a lesson out of that. We’re looking forward always and trying not to dwell on our past. But we learned from it, moved on and are a better team because of it.”
Nixa followed up its sound defensive effort in its Class 6 District 5 final win against Kickapoo with a fantastic flow at both ends of the court against Lee’s Summit West.
“We showed our senior leadership,” Osborne said, referencing the Eagles’ four seniors among their starting five. “It was seniors playing against sophomores at times.
“Defensively, we took their 3-point game away from them. They didn’t get many open looks,” he added. “We also did a good job when they penetrated of closing gaps because they’re a gap-drive team. (Offensively), we did a nice executing most of the night by getting the ball inside to (Jaret) Nelson. He was a force. They had no answer to him.”
The other Class 6 semifinal will feature Christian Brothers College (24-6) against Chaminade College Prep (24-6).
“We’re going to run into some outstanding teams,” Osborne said. “We have a chance.”
The Eagles indeed aren’t content with a Final Four berth, they’re thinking state championship.
“The job is not done,” guard Colin Ruffin said. “We’ve still got two big games to go.”
“This is a milestone, but the job is not finished,” Nelson added. “We still have two more games to play. We’re going to keep getting after it.”
The players add there surely will be no better retirement gift for Osborne than to reward his 30 years at Nixa with a state championship ring.
“This is fulfilling a tradition and we want to fulfill a legacy,” Combs said. “We want to honor coach Osborne’s retirement the right way.”
