NMCC defeats Malden with ease, prepares for Nixa Tournament

NEW MADRID, Mo. — Jadis Jones filled up the stat sheet and was almost perfect from the field in leading New Madrid County Central to a 78-56 win over Malden on Tuesday, Jan. 24.

The star junior scored 23 points for the Eagles (11-5) on 11-of-12 shots from the field, while also grabbing 10 rebounds, dishing out eight assists, snatching six steals and blocking a shot. BJ Williamson led the team with a game-high 26 points, Brayden Newsom added 18 points and seven rebounds and AJ Ruff had a game-high 11 assists to go along with four steals.

“The team played hard and together last night,” said NMCC assistant coach Dontre Jenkins. “They worked on the defensive end of the court and it led to a lot of easy basketball for us. We have been focusing on getting better with our defense and tonight we saw signs that we can be a good defensive team. We shared the ball and got everyone involved on offense.”

NMCC jumped out to a big lead thanks to a big first quarter from Williamson, Jones and Newsom. The Eagles led 46-26 at halftime and 72-37 at the end of the third quarter. The team shot 69 percent from the field on 49-for-71 attempts and had 18 total steals.

NMCC will compete in the Nixa Tournament, beginning Thursday, Jan. 26.

The Eagles will begin the tournament against Hillcrest (9-7) at 8:30 p.m.

Springfield Central (10-4) will take on Troy (13-3) at 4 p.m.; Notre Dame (7-11) faces Rogersville (13-2) at 5:30 p.m.; and Nixa (15-0) battles Marquette (4-3) in the other games.

“Most of the teams in the tournament are from the Springfield area so we will get to see a different style of basketball that we normally don’t see in southeast Missouri,” Jenkins said. “Nixa puts on a great tournament and we are excited to get to participate in it again this year.”

Malden will travel to Kennett (7-10) on Friday, Jan. 27.

__NMCC 78, MALDEN 56__

Malden 13 13 11 19 — 56

NMCC 23 23 26 6 — 78

__Malden (56) —__ Quamareous Farmer 15, Trey Miller 14, Marcus Burton 12, Xavier Harris 5, Tyronne Lee 4, Payton Woodard 2, Cooper Thomas 2, Amadrae Farmer 2. FG: 22. FT: 2-6. F: 10. (3-pointers: Miller 4, Quamareous Farmer 3, Harris 1. Fouled out: none.)

__NMCC (78) —__ BJ Williamson 26, Jadis Jones 23, Brayden Newsom 18, Kayden Minner 8, JC Harris 3. FG: 49-71. FT: 2-6. F: 7. (3-pointers: Williamson 2, Minner 2, Harris 1, Jones 1. Fouled out: none.)