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Carthage converted on 26 of 37 free throws and pulled away from visiting Neosho in the second half Tuesday night for a 66-46 win at Carthage High School.
The victory improves Carthage to 13-2 overall and 7-0 in home games. The Tigers are also 2-0 in the Central Ozarks Conference.
“We’ve had a very good, solid season to this point and we’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” Carthage head coach Steve Ray said afterward. “That bullseye on our back is pretty big right now. It was a hard-fought game. Neosho did a great job, they prepared well for us. We were able to get that
little burst in the second half to stretch that lead out. I’m real proud of how we handle fourth quarters and I thought that was a big key tonight.”
To those just looking at the final score, it might appear Carthage ran away with this one, but that wasn’t the case until late. A pair of free throws by Neosho’s Dustin Flory and a three pointer by Johnny Lowe put the Wildcats up 5-0 to start the game. Carthage junior Nathan Reid and senior Desmond Buerge combined to make four of six free throw shots in less than a minute, but halfway through the first quarter, Neosho still held a five-point lead after senior Ethan Murray scored to make it 9-4. Carthage finally took the lead on two free throws by freshman Jaryd Coss with 2:36 left in the first, and the Tigers held a 16-15 advantage after the quarter.
That lead wouldn’t hold, though.
Murray drained two three pointers in 28 seconds to put the Wildcats back on top by five, but the Tigers continued to make Neosho pay with trips to the foul line. Reid made two free throws, then scored a basket to cut the lead to one, and Buerge was fouled shooting a three with 5:26 remaining in the half. He made two of three free shots to give Carthage a 22-21 advantage, and it was the last time the Tigers would trail.
Neosho trailed by only six points with less than a minute left in the second, but Buerge hit a free throw and Coss scored on an offensive rebound with two seconds left, sending Carthage to the half with a 37-28 lead.
“I felt like we played pretty well in the first half,” Neosho coach Ben Ponce said. “In the third quarter we held them to nine points, but we only scored nine ourselves. We had way too many turnovers.”
Carthage converted on 26 of 37 free throws and pulled away from visiting Neosho in the second half Tuesday night for a 66-46 win at Carthage High School.
The victory improves Carthage to 13-2 overall and 7-0 in home games. The Tigers are also 2-0 in the Central Ozarks Conference.
“We’ve had a very good, solid season to this point and we’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” Carthage head coach Steve Ray said afterward. “That bullseye on our back is pretty big right now. It was a hard-fought game. Neosho did a great job, they prepared well for us. We were able to get that
little burst in the second half to stretch that lead out. I’m real proud of how we handle fourth quarters and I thought that was a big key tonight.”
To those just looking at the final score, it might appear Carthage ran away with this one, but that wasn’t the case until late. A pair of free throws by Neosho’s Dustin Flory and a three pointer by Johnny Lowe put the Wildcats up 5-0 to start the game. Carthage junior Nathan Reid and senior Desmond Buerge combined to make four of six free throw shots in less than a minute, but halfway through the first quarter, Neosho still held a five-point lead after senior Ethan Murray scored to make it 9-4. Carthage finally took the lead on two free throws by freshman Jaryd Coss with 2:36 left in the first, and the Tigers held a 16-15 advantage after the quarter.
That lead wouldn’t hold, though.
Murray drained two three pointers in 28 seconds to put the Wildcats back on top by five, but the Tigers continued to make Neosho pay with trips to the foul line. Reid made two free throws, then scored a basket to cut the lead to one, and Buerge was fouled shooting a three with 5:26 remaining in the half. He made two of three free shots to give Carthage a 22-21 advantage, and it was the last time the Tigers would trail.
Neosho trailed by only six points with less than a minute left in the second, but Buerge hit a free throw and Coss scored on an offensive rebound with two seconds left, sending Carthage to the half with a 37-28 lead.
“I felt like we played pretty well in the first half,” Neosho coach Ben Ponce said. “In the third quarter we held them to nine points, but we only scored nine ourselves. We had way too many turnovers.”
Carthage senior Zach Strubberg hit two free throws, then grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to put the Tigers up by 11 halfway through the third, then free throws by Buerge and Coss made it a 12-point game with two minutes left to play in the quarter.
The Tigers would lead 46-37 heading into the fourth, after Murray converted a three-point play the hard way at the end of the third.
Murray struck again from long range 12 seconds into the final quarter, cutting the Carthage lead to six points, but the Tigers responded with a 16-4 run and then scored the final two baskets of the game on shots by senior Kyle Reed.
Carthage, which shot 65 percent from the charity stripe in the first half, making 15 of 23 shots, made 11 of 14 free throw attempts in the second half.
Neosho was 11 of 12 from the free throw line the first two quarters, but the Wildcats had just three free throw shots in the second half, all of which were made.
The game saw 23 fouls committed in the first half, and almost as many in the second.
“It was a physical game,” Ray said. “I know we fouled them a bunch, too. It was one of those games where both teams were going at it hard. I know on our part we had a hard time being able to secure rebounds without fouling those guys. If a team’s going to foul you, you’ve got to make them pay. We were 11 of 14 in the second half, which was good to see.”
Carthage was led in scoring by Reid, who finished with 17 points.
Neosho had one player in double figures, with Murray scoring 28.
“He’s a very good player,” Ray said. “He’s going to be a first team all-league player. We told our guys if he has a huge night, we can live with that as long as he earns his points. He made some tough shots. Some shots with hands in his face. I give him credit, that was a display.”
Tyrell Hembree and Lowe each scored five for the Wildcats, with Logan Davidson adding four. Flory and Blake Nagurne each had two points.
“Our two starting posts got two quick fouls in the first quarter. So, we had to go to our bench and bring in some guys that aren’t quite as threatening offensively,” Ponce said. “Logan had a bucket right off the bat and Flory started the game by getting to the line. We need to get eight to 10 points from those guys each night. Tyrell didn’t ever really get into a rhythm. Someone has to score consistently.”
Neosho (4-10) will face Joplin on the road Tuesday.
“I got to see (Joplin) earlier this season,” Ponce said. “They have some very good players. We have to try to contain Charlie Brown at point guard, Sam Williams is a good shooter and Adam St. Peter is a load inside. We will have to be very balanced on defense. Hopefully, our offense comes around a little more.”
