CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage saw a double-digit halftime lead vanish by the fourth quarter and trailed by two possessions late in regulation only to rally and defeat Springfield Central 69-63 in double overtime on Tuesday.
Carthage spent the first half building a 34-22 lead before Central used an early run in the third to trim the deficit to four to start the fourth. Turnovers plagued the Tigers early in the fourth, but Carthage found some magic late in regulation to force overtime. The Tigers and Bulldogs remained tied and went into a second overtime, where Carthage gave up the first basket before holding Central silent down the final stretch on the way to the win.
“That is a different Central team,” Carthage coach Nathan Morris said. “I think (first-year Central coach Jordan Epps) has done a great job with those kids. The young kids they have helping him are going to be studs. … I told our guys they weren’t ever going to go away. I knew it was coming. I told our guys that we had three chances to lose that game and we didn’t let it happen. I am so proud of my guys because last year, those are the ones we let get away.”
The Tigers, coming off a third-place finish at the Carthage Invitational, improve to 4-1 on the season and are next in action in the 4 States Challenge hosted by Webb City. The Tigers take on Rogers (Ark.) at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“We talked about at the end of our tournament how it’s been a while since a Carthage team took third and started the season 3-1,” Morris said. “Even moreso, it’s been a lot longer since a Carthage team has started 4-1. I don’t think some of the guys were even aware that this makes us 1-0 in our district. Now, with the eight-team district, to take care of those when you can early in the season, that is a big-time win for this group.”
SCORING LEADERS
Junior guard Max Templeman was the offensive leader for the Tigers, scoring a game-high 29 points in the win, with 17 of those coming in the second half and overtime periods. Senior G Joel Pugh finished with 17 points, knocking down four 3-pointers. Junior G Clay Kinder finished with 10 points, while sophomore G Justin Ray had seven.
Junior G Sterling Vinson led Central in scoring with 17 points. Freshman F Bryce Walker closed with 16 points, while sophomore G Antonio Starks-Fewell finished with 13.
GAME ACTION
Carthage faced the full-court press early, but that didn’t stop them from building an 11-5 lead over Central through the first four-plus minutes of action thanks in large part to a 9-0 run led by its own defensive effort. The Tigers forced three consecutive turnovers to fuel the run, which turned into seven points the other way.
Templeman was the offensive catalyst for the Tigers in the first quarter. He scored 10 points, including Carthage’s final six, and did it with his ability to knife through the lane and attack the basket.
Templeman’s ability to create off the drive opened up the perimeter in the second quarter, as the Tigers knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in the period to build a 34-22 lead by the intermission.
“That is where Max has stepped up his game,” Morris added. “Last year, he had the same ability to get to the paint but some of the decision making was questionable. He has really changed that. That comes with growth and maturity, and that also comes with knowing the work the guards around him have put in.”
Kinder knocked down the first 3-pointer to start the scoring in the second for Carthage, while Pugh splashed home a pull-up 3-ball from the top of the key off a ball screen to make the score 25-15—the Tigers’ first double-digit lead of the game—with 3:38 on the clock. Pugh added a 25-foot bomb from the perimeter seconds before the buzzer to send Carthage into the intermission with a 34-22 advantage.
The tide turned in the third quarter, as Central used a 12-3 run through the first four-plus minutes of action to trim the 12-point lead down to five, 39-34. Freshman G Keion Epps and Starks-Fewell each had five points in the run, with both players knocking down 3-pointers.
“They took away Joel and started fighting passing lanes on Joel, Max and sometimes Justin,” Morris said of Central’s defensive adjustments. “We just didn’t do a good enough job of staying aggressive. I told the guys we needed to slow it down a little in transition, so that was probably my fault. I think we need to know what this team is, they are go, go, go. We weren’t real sound with it, and I told the guys the start to the half was totally on me.”
The Bulldogs ultimately went into the fourth quarter down 45-41 after Vinson converted a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The turnover bug hit Carthage hard early in the fourth quarter, as the Tigers turned it over several times in the first four minutes, allowing Central to come all the way back and take the lead on a score from Vinson on an inbounds play under his own basket with 6:05 to play.
Vinson added a score on the break off a Carthage turnover near the two-minute mark to give Central a 52-48 advantage.
Templeman made a pair of charities before converting the and-1 free throw after drawing contact on a drive to the left with 35.8 seconds left to give Carthage a 53-52 lead.
Starks-Fewell looked to ice the game when he followed with his own three-point play coming off a drive, score and foul with 2.1 seconds left in regulation to put Central up 55-53.
Junior F Tyler Willis had other ideas, as a full-court heave intended for Ray was tipped near the top of the key before falling into the hands of Willis, who raised up just beyond the free-throw line and dropped the midrange bucket at the buzzer to tie the game at 55 and send it into overtime.
“That was drawn up to go to Tyler on the throw, but (Central) hunkered down at midcourt and the play saw an opening to Justin,” Morris said. “They made a good play on it, but luckily J was able to get enough of it to tip it to Tyler. … I told (Tyler) it never was a question was it?”
Central built a 61-58 lead in the first overtime period before Ray splashed a 3-ball from the wing with 68 seconds left to tie the game, ultimately sending it into a second overtime.
Walker scored inside to start the second overtime to give Central a 63-61 lead, but that was the last bucket for the Bulldogs.
Kinder tied the game on the next trip down the floor with a basket inside before finding Templeman on a back cut with two minutes left to give the Tigers a 65-63 lead. But Kinder’s biggest play of the night was yet to come. With 10.6 seconds left and Central attacking the rim, Kinder drew a charge on a drive by Vinson to force a turnover. Pugh knocked down two free throws on the ensuing foul to essentially seal the win for Carthage.
“I am so proud of Clay,” Morris said. “We have asked him to help us on JV this year because of numbers and he has stepped up and carried that role this season. He is now leading our team in charges … but for that kid not having played this load of minutes to play through the fourth and both overtimes, bury an early 3 in the first overtime to get us rolling, and then to step over in front of a special player and take that charge is a big moment in his career.”
