Slow starts prove costly for Osage, Eldon boys

Slow starts meant quick ends Monday in the Class 4 District 10 Tournament for the School of the Osage Indians and the Eldon Mustangs.

Osage dropped a 60-53 decision to the Marshfield Jays in the first game at Rackers Fieldhouse, while Eldon fell 67-37 to the Salem Tigers in the following contest.

Osage took a 1-0 early lead on a free throw by James McCann in the opening minute. But that was its last lead of the night as Marshfield scored the next eight on its way to an 18-5 advantage after one quarter.

The Indians settled down in the second quarter and trailed 30-15 at the half. Marshfield led by as many as 19 in the third quarter, that coming at 39-20 before Osage battled back to cut the deficit to 13 at 45-32 heading into the final period.

A basket by McCann with 8:18 remaining pulled the Indians to within nine at 45-36. That was the first time Osage had trailed by less than double digits since midway through the first quarter.

The Indians got as close as six on several occasions the remainder of the contest before the game ended with the Jays holding a seven-point edge.

Matthew Halsell led four Osage players in double figures with 14 points. Hayden Drace and McCann added 11 each, while Josh Wheeler came off the bench to chip in with 10.

Wyatt Findley went 4-of-10 on 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 16 points for Marshfield. Dallas Crider added 15, while Devin Letterman totaled 14.

Osage, the No. 5 seed, ends at 12-13. Marshfield (15-10), the No. 4 seed, advances to take on top-seeded Rolla in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday.

In the second game, Eldon had trouble getting anything going on offense in its loss to Salem.

Neither team got on the scoreboard for the first 4:35 until Salem's Jacob Happel hit a layup to snap an 0-for-7 start for the Tigers from the field. Salem led 12-6 after one quarter.

Salem scored the first seven points of the second quarter to pad its lead to 19-6. It was 29-12 in favor of the Tigers at the half. Eldon had 17 total shots in the first half to go along with 17 turnovers.

The Tigers stretched its advantage to 53-26 heading into the final period.

Owen Tamm and Gavin Henderson finished with 10 points each to lead sixth-seeded Eldon. Henderson had a double-double in the contest, pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds.

Logan Woolf hit 4-of-5 3-pointers on his way to 17 points to pace third-seeded Salem. Kobe Mead and Antonio Quick added 14 points each for the Tigers, who will play second-seeded Helias in the semifinals at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.