Kirksville Basketball Sweeps Moberly in NCMC Opener

Kirksville basketball earned a pair of victories versus Moberly in the NCMC opener at Kirksville Friday. The Lady Tigers topped the Lady Spartans 44-43 in the first contest. Moberly senior Mary Billington almost sparked a Lady Spartan comeback in the final minutes.

Eric Duick with the call on 99.9 The Captain and centralmoinfo.com as Billington’s triple cut Moberly’s deficit to 42-39 with 30 seconds left. Billington drilled deep threes from all over the floor in the fourth quarter en route to a game-high 29 points. But 3-3 Kirksville outscored Moberly 20-0 in the third quarter to enter the fourth with a 31-17 lead, which proved too much for Tony Vestal’s Lady Spartans to overcome.

Moberly drops to 2-3. Kirksville junior Kenslie Stufflebean paced the Lady Tigers with 10 points, including several key free throws down the stretch.

The Kirksville boys beat Moberly 68-41. Moberly head coach Cord Hagedorn reacted after the Spartans fell to 1-3.

Hagedorn’s Spartans trailed 12-10 after the first and 31-20 at half. Moberly sophomore Jaisten Payne produced a game-high 19 points. Kirksville head coach Tyler Martin explained what changed for the 5-1 Tigers in the second half.

Kirksville flashed its depth as six Tigers scored seven-plus points. The Kirksville teams host Mexico Tuesday while Moberly welcomes Hannibal Tuesday. Hear full postgame interviews below.

Moberly girls head coach Tony Vestal: