COLUMBIA — Nixa center Adam McKnight was right by suspecting beforehand Oak Park would be seeking revenge at the Class 6 Final Four Wednesday.
Knight and the Eagles beat the Northmen at the KAMO Shootout in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, last summer.
Oak Park won when it counted most, pulling out a 61-50 triumph in the teams’ rematch.
“We’re a different team,” Oak Park coach Sherron Collins said. “We had some stuff going on (last) summer, bickering between each other. These guys love each other and have one goal, they want to win. Sometimes, when you want to win, brothers fight. We had to get through it.
“(Nixa) caught us at a bad time for us and a good time for them,” he added.
Collins didn’t bother with a pre-game pep talk to his players Wednesday.
"Games like this for me are easy (when) I don't have to give a big speech before the game,” Collins said. “(Motivation) was already there because they beat us. It was definitely a payback game.”
“(When) a team beats us, we have to show them what we can do,” guard Corbin Allen said. “We know we’re better than what we were in the summer."
