CARTHAGE, Mo. — Miller caught fire from the perimeter early in a 48-24 win over host Carthage on the final day of pool play in the Lady Tigers Basketball Invitational on Friday.
The Cardinals were simmering from 3-point range almost from the opening tip, with their first four shots all coming from the perimeter for a quick 12-0 run. Carthage whittled the lead down to 10 early in the third period before Miller closed the quarter with a sizable run to put the game out of reach.
“We didn’t have the energy I expected us to have on either end of the floor from the start,” Carthage coach Scott Moore said. “That is disappointing because this was a matchup where there were a lot of friends and relatives between the two teams, so I didn’t think energy would be a problem. … The lack of energy led to lax turnovers and making bad decisions defensively that allowed them open shots. Those are things we need to learn from. We need to learn that in a 32-minute game, we need to be ready in minute one and not wait until the second quarter to play hard.”
Miller opened the game on a 12-0 run thanks to a corner 3-pointer from Kaylee Helton before Claudia Hadlock took over with the next nine points all on makes from beyond the arc. Turnovers plagued the Tigers early and proved to be the catalyst for Miller’s momentum swing, with Carthage turning the ball over prior to three of the four makes from range by the Cardinals.
Maggie Boyd ended the early run with a 3-pointer of her own before Miller scored the next seven points, all by Hadlock, to push the lead to 19-3. Boyd answered again inside to trim the lead to 19-5 by the end of the first period.
“We just didn’t defend them well tonight,” Moore said. “We went over the scouting report pretty significantly in practice. We didn’t really execute it properly. That allowed them some open looks, and to their credit, they knocked down their open looks.”
A low-scoring second quarter played in favor of the Tigers, who outscored the Cardinals 6-3 to trim the lead to 23-11 by halftime. Kianna Yates, Sophie Shannon and Landry Cochran each had two points for the Tigers in the period.
“We made some adjustments in the break after the first quarter to shore up our press to kind of cover their press break,” Moore said about his team’s play on defense in the second quarter. “We demanded that they play harder and they did that. I am really proud that the girls can execute when we make changes.”
Carthage’s defensive intensity continued in the early portions if the third period, with the Tigers whittling the lead down to 10, 24-14, on a 3-pointer from the wing by Raven Probert off the assist by Yates, but Miller answered with an 11-0 run to close out the third period with a 35-14 to essentially put the game out of reach. Helton highlighted the run with a driving score and a 3-ball from the corner.
SCORING LEADERS
Hadlock led all scorers with 24 points, including four 3-pointers. She scored 16 points in the first quarter. Helton finished with 16 points.
Boyd led Carthage with eight points, while Cochran finished with four.
UP NEXT
Carthage takes on Waynesville in the fifth-place game at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Webb City matches up with Har-Ber at 12:30 p.m. in the third-place game, while Miller takes on Sunrise Christian at 2 in the championship game.
