Monett Times: High School Sports: Verona Wildcats fall to Niangua in district action (03/03/10)

AURORA -- The Niangua Cardinals shook off a sluggish start, pulled away in the third quarter and put away the Verona Wildcats, 52-39, at Aurora on Tuesday night. Niangua, the #2 seed, ended Verona's season and will play Chadwick on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the Class 1 District 6 boys basketball tournament's semi-finals.

The one-win Wildcats held on stubbornly against Niangua and only trailed 17-15 at halftime. Wesley Kissinger kept Verona in the slow-paced game, scoring 10 of his team's 15 first-half points. Kissinger finished as the game's high scorer with 24. Justin Miller led Niangua with 21.

In the second half, Niangua relied more on the inside power of Derek Brown and Logan Rolfe. The pair of 6'3" forwards exploited their size advantage and led the Cards to a 33-25 lead at the final break.

Verona could not get the margin under 10 in the fourth quarter, and Niangua pushed on to the 52-39 victory. The Cardinals improved to 12-6 with the district win, while Verona finishes at 1-20.

Verona scorers: Wesley Kissinger 24; Seth Losack 12; Cody Ernsberger 2; and Clifford Williams 1.

Niangua scorers: Justin Miller 21; Derek Brown 13; Alex Colten 8; Logan Rolfe 8; and Dakota Bailey 2.