By his own admission, the scouting report on Devon Kemp in the winter as a junior guard for Nixa is probably a slow read.
In contrast and by any account, the scouting report on him in the summer as a 17-year-old hotshot for All Missouri Attack is a compelling narrative.
Kemp was as clutch Wednesday for Nixa as he has been the past two summers for Attack. He hit the biggest shot of the night in the Eagles’ 65-62 victory versus Kickapoo.
Kemp hit a tying 3-pointer with 1:35 remaining as part of a seven-point comeback and 10-0 finish for the Eagles.
“To be honest, when Kael (Combs) passed me the ball I wasn’t expecting it,” Kemp said. “But I got it and thought, ‘I’m wide open, I’ve got to shoot the ball. Don’t think, just do.’ Nobody was in front of me, that’s the best shot you’ll get.”
Kemp didn’t think it was an accident Kickapoo all but dared him to shoot. Based on how the Chiefs played off of him, he related he had a good idea what the scouting report on him likely included.
“Bench player comes in and can handle the ball pretty well, quick, keep him in front of you — that’s about it,” Kemp said. “They don’t think of me as a shooter. They were backing off of me.”
“He doesn’t shoot a lot of shots. Some people don’t think he can score,” Nixa coach Brock Blansit said. “I noticed (Kickapoo) let him shoot. They backed off of him. I told our coaches he needs to shoot it and he did.”
Kemp wasn’t quite able to call his shot Wednesday the biggest he’s ever made. How about this, he’s had four game-winning shots for Attack over the past two summers.
“In AAU, I’ve hit some pretty big shots,” he said. “I’m pretty confident in myself shooting the ball.”
It speak volumes of Combs’ confidence in Kemp that he passed him the ball in such a key moment.
"He was open, so it was the right play to make,” Combs said. “I believe in him. He doesn’t get too riled up. He stays within himself. I trust everybody on this team. Everybody can shoot it.”
In the early going, Nixa shooters were as hot as they ever have been. The Eagles started the night incredibly well, making 10 of their first 12 3-point attempts.
They were still sizzling a couple minutes into the third quarter, having made 14-of-20 3-pointers up to that juncture.
Of Nixa’s first 33 points, 30 came from beyond the arc.
Combs already had 20 points by halftime.
The Eagles led by as much as 17 points, 51-34.
They have enough respect for Kickapoo to know the game was far from over.
“Basketball is a game of runs. We made our big run in the first half. I knew they were going to make their run, just like we made our run.” Combs said. “They weren’t going to just bow down and take a loss. They were going to fight back.”
Kickapoo pulled to within five, 53-48 by the end of the third quarter and followed up by scoring the first 12 points of the fourth quarter.
In all, it was a 26-2 Chiefs run that gave them a 60-53 lead.
Nixa didn’t score in the fourth quarter until the 2:49 mark.
“When we’re off, it’s not that pretty,” Kemp said.
Kickapoo still led by seven, 62-55, with 2:45 to go.
The Eagles responded with a a pair of free throws by both Combs and Noah Engleman and Kemp’s 3 to make it 62-62.
Nixa took the lead when Carsten Seitz made 1-of-3 free throws with :2.5 to play, after Kickapoo’s Landon Keisker was called for a foul on a Seitz 3-point try.
Seitz got his shot off cleanly, but Keisker grazed one of his hands on his follow-through. Perhaps a border-line foul at that stage of a game, but no matter a foul was called.
Kickapoo (11-7), which has lost five of its last seven games, turned the ball over on each of its final six possessions.
The Chiefs didn’t make it a priority for the ball to be in guard Trae Oetting’s hands down the stretch and paid dearly for it. Give credit to Kemp and Seitz for taking turns denying Oetting the ball.
“Devon and Carsten gave us great minutes,” Blansit said. “We tried to keep it out of (Oetting’s) hands most of the game and that didn’t go very well. Late in the game, I thought Devon did a great job keeping the ball out of his hands. Devon really got after it.”
“(Oetting) is the key to their whole offense and defense,” said Combs, who finished with 33 points. “He’s a leader. It’s very big that he didn’t get the ball a lot and do what he needed to do.”
Suddenly, Nixa (19-0) has won three straight against Kickapoo dating back to last season. One of those contests went to overtime and the other two were both decided by three points.
“It’s going to come down to the last possession when Nixa and Kickapoo play each other,” Blansit said. “The composure of our guys (showed) to stay with what we were trying to do. We had a lot of adversity and pulled it out.”
Nixa 65, Kickapoo 62
KICKAPOO (62) — Akins 0 2-2 2, Robb 0 3-4 3, Oetting 8 1-2 20, J. Shorter 1 1-2 3, Doennig 5 3-3 15, Kimrey 1 0-0 3, B. Shorter 7 0-0 16.
NIXA (65) — D. Kemp 2 0-0 6, Engelman 0 2-2 2, Seitz 2 1-3 7, Combs 11 4-6 33, C. Kemp 2 0-0 6, Hines 1 0-0 3, Peters 2 0-0 6, Cantwell 1 0-0 2.
Kickapoo 15 14 19 14 - 62
Nixa 26 15 12 12 - 65
3-point goals - Combs 7, Detting 3, Doennig 3, B. Shorter 2, Seitz 2, Peters 2, D. Kemp 2, C. Kemp 2, Hines, Robb.
