Author: Lucas Davis

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage struggled from the perimeter from the onset and couldn’t climb out of the early hole, with Class 3 seventh-ranked Sparta never relinquishing the lead in a 43-33 win on Friday night in the Tigers’ final home game of the 2023 year.

“His game plan was phenomenal,” Carthage coach Nathan Morris said of Sparta coach Deric Link. “They have played some smaller schools, so we weren’t really sure how they were going to come in and defend us. Their matchup zone with (Jacob Lafferty) in the middle really affected us. I thought we were unsure against it early on, and I don’t think the shots that we took early were confident shots that our group is used to taking. Later in the game, we had better rhythm shots but I think at that point, we were mentally and physically exhausted fighting against their matchup zone.”

Sparta (7-0) found its footing on the offensive end early against the Tigers, outscoring Carthage 12-7 in the first period to take the momentum. 

Walker Loveland (four points) and Jacob Lafferty (eight points, including one 3-pointer), a 6-foot-5 forward, combined to score all of the Trojans’ points. 

It was a struggle on the offensive end for Carthage (3-2), which started off cold from the perimeter in the first half, failing to convert several open looks outside, particularly in the opening stanza. 

“That is a team we need to be,” Morris said about his team knocking down open looks from range when given the opportunity. “We started out hot against Webb City (in the Carthage Invitational championship game) but we didn’t start hot tonight and I think it affected us. … We were a little timid to start and were playing from behind the whole night and never really got into a rhythm.”

Carthage did get a 3-ball from junior Trent Yates in the first quarter, coupled with a score on the inside by senior Jack Ryder, but looked for other ways to improve the scoring output in the second period to prevent the game getting out of reach. That meant doing the dirty work—rebounding, coming up with 50-50 balls and getting the ball inside.

“We changed it up offensively and got the ball to the middle and attacked,” Morris said. “I was proud of their effort in the second quarter, and again down the stretch in the fourth. It was two teams battling like crazy.”

Sparta pushed its lead to a half-high eight points, 20-12, off an offensive rebound and a putback from LeeAnthony Mayes before Carthage with less than three minutes to play before Carthage answered with a floater on the drove from senior Justin Ray, a score on a baseline drive from junior Kruz Castor and a make from the charity stripe to cut the deficit to 20-17 with 90 seconds left in the half, ultimately trailing five at the intermission, 22-17.

The Trojans pushed the lead to nine twice in the third quarter, including taking a 35-26 lead into the final eight minutes after closing the third period on a 6-0 run with two buckets from Lovelnd and a hoop from Lafferty. 

“This was the first game where I saw some mental fatigue on our guys’ faces,” Morris said. “I think we got a little defeated by the shots that we normally take, and practice over and over and over at game speed, that weren’t falling.”

Sparta scored the first basket two and a half minutes into the fourth quarter on a bucket from Lafferty to push the lead to double digits for the first time.

Carthage cut the lead to seven, 37-30, on a four-point play from Ray, who was fouled on a 3-ball in transition and made the ensuing and-1 free throw, with 5:06 left in regulation, but that was the final field goal from the Tigers until Ray made another 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:07 left to again cut the deficit to seven, 40-33, but that would be as close as Carthage would get to the lead.

“They played at their pace,” Morris said of the limited scoring in the fourth quarter. “They did what they wanted to do and kind of forced us into situations we weren’t comfortable in.” 

Despite the struggles on offense, Morris was pleased with the Tigers on the defensive end. Carthage held Sparta, which averages 68.5 points per game, to a season-low 43 points. 

Lafferty, who was held to less than 30 points for the first time this season, finished with a game-high 24 points and was the only Trojan to score in double figures. Loveland and Mayes each had six

Ray finished with a team-high 14 points, while Yates also finished in double figures with 10 points. 

Carthage takes part in the Hy-Vee 12 Courts of Christmas Shootout 

CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Carl Junction spent nearly the entire game fighting back from an early deficit before tying the contest late and going on to win 73-68 in double overtime against Seneca on Tuesday.

The Indians (2-3) used a strong spurt at the end of the first quarter to gain the momentum before pushing the lead to double digits early in the second period. The Bulldogs (4-2) made several runs at the lead before finally clawing back to tie the game late in regulation to force overtime. While one extra period wasn’t enough to decide the game, Carl Junction took the momentum in the second overtime period and never gave it up en route to the win.

“I thought our kids fought really hard,” Carl Junction coach Justin Pock said. “There were times where I didn’t think we were as crisp as we needed to be, especially early on. It took us a while to get out of the gates. They kept chipping away and kept fighting, and we’ve seen over the last two ball games that our team will fight no matter what the score is. … When it came together, it was all about heart and hustle.”

A SECOND HELPING OF OVERTIME

After both teams combined for two free throws and two scores from the floor in the first OT, Carl Junction’s Cooper Vediz and Seneca’s Morgan Vaughn traded makes out of the break before Wyatt McAfee drove baseline for a score and a 66-64 advantage in favor of the Bulldogs with 2:45 left.

After a pair of misses at the stripe for Seneca, Carl Junction pushed the lead to 67-64 with 1:44 on the clock after a 1-for-2 showing at the foul line from Quin Kennedy. 

Seneca got a corner 3-ball with 50 seconds left from Zane Grotjohn to tie the game at 67-all before Vediz pushed CJ back in front 69-67 with a bucket. 

Seneca trimmed the deficit to 69-68 after making one of two free throws with 27 seconds left before CJ extended the lead back to three, 71-68, on two charities by Jett Hocut.

The Bulldogs iced the game after an empty possession by the Indians in the waning seconds, which led to a rebound from Aidan Beachner, an outlet pass to Vediz, and a fast-break score in the closing seconds to clinch the win.

“I thought we had some good rebounds,” Pock said when asked what stood out in that second overtime. “Quin (Kennedy) had a really good rebound and I thought (Aidan) Beachner did a great job with that last rebound to seal it. We had some guys attack, and then Cooper (Vediz) and Jett (Hocut) hit some big free throws for us.”

HOW THEY GOT THERE

Seneca used the first surge of the game to take the momentum, closing the first quarter on a 9-2 run.

With Seneca leading 10-8 near the four-minute mark, a bucket inside from Morgan Vaughn off the assist from Jace Schulte started the run before Gavyn Hoover added a bucket on the drive. Vediz pulled up from midrange for a jumper before Schulte knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key and Gabe Sikes added a transition basket in press break with 15 seconds left to send Seneca into the second period holding a 19-10 advantage. 

Sikes added another bucket inside at the start of the second period to push the Indians’ advantage to double digits for the first time.

Carl Junction fought back to cut the deficit to one thanks to a 10-0 run near the midway point, with Brody Pant earning a steal and score on the break to kick things off before adding a three-point play after drawing a foul and converting the ensuing and-1 free throw. Jett Mills followed with a second-chance score inside and a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the score to 23-22 with 3:16 left to play in the first half.

“Seneca is a good team, but we just had to get some things going,” Pock said of his team’s first surge to climb back into the game. “We just needed to see some shots fall and pick up our defense a little bit.”

Seneca had an answer to close the first half, scoring 11 of the next 13 points thanks to eight points from Grotjohn—which included a pair of NBA-range 3-pointers from the top of the key and the wing—to push the lead back up to 34-24 with less than 40 seconds to play in the second period.

Carl Junction used a score on a baseline drive from Deacon Endicott and a buzzer-beating 3-ball from Vediz at the volleyball line to end the first half trailing 34-29.

Carl Junction spent the second half trying to regain the lead, meandering around a two-possession deficit until McAfee scored on a drive with 1:20 left in regulation and Pant added two free throws with 40 seconds left to tie the game at 59-59, ultimately sending it to the first overtime.

“I think when we step on the floor, we always have a belief we are going to win,” Pock said of his team’s resiliency in the second half. “They don’t always know how it’s going to happen, but the guys continue to do what they need to do. They fought hard every possession until we made some shots and got some good things going.”

SCORING LEADERS

Vediz scored 22 to lead Carl Junction in scoring. Endicott and Pant had 13 each, while Kennedy closed with 11. McAfee finished with eight.  

Vaughn finished with 17 points to lead Seneca in scoring, while Grotjohn had 15, including three 3-pointers. Hoover had 12—10 in the second half. 

UP NEXT

Carl Junction takes part in the Mustang Classic on Thursday, hosted by McDonald County.

Seneca hosts Neosho on Friday.

CARL JUNCTION 47, BLUE VALLEY WEST 38 (THIRD-PLACE GAME)

After building an early lead, Carl Junction was tasked with staving off every Blue Valley West comeback attempt in the second half in order to capture a win in the third-place game of the Freeman Lady Eagle Classic on Saturday.

The Bulldogs did just that, as the Jaguars eventually whittled the lead to single digits with four minutes left in regulation only for Carl Junction to come up time and again with a much-needed bucket down the stretch in a win over Blue Valley West on the final day of the tournament. 

“It was just a really good team effort,” first-year coach Ryan Odaffer said. “Defensively, we were consistent the entire game. It was the most-complete game we have played as a team the entire season. With the new system, and them trying to figure out what we are doing offensively and defensively, I felt like they took a step towards figuring it out tonight. It was really nice to see us feel comfortable on both ends of the floor. The game slowed down for us and you could see it, and that was key to keeping that consistency.”

Carl Junction started the contest by scoring the first 10 points to build its initial advantage, with most of the tallies coming from the free-throw line. 

After taking a four-point advantage into the second stanza, the Bulldogs spent the period stretching out the lead to double digits after closing the half on an 11-4 run for a 27-16 cushion. 

Kylie Scott, an Oral Roberts signee, knocked down a corner 3-pointer and had a score on the break in the run, while Dezi Williams had four points—including a steal and layup on the break—and a bucket from Maddy Huffman. 

The Bulldogs got the first two buckets out of the break—an inside score from Scott and an old-fashioned three-point play from Williams—to push the advantage to a game-high 16 points two minutes into the third quarter.

“When you have a young team and a lot of kids who haven’t spent a lot of time playing on varsity, it is nice to have a cushion,” Odaffer said. “Sometimes, you’re going to have a breakdown or two and teams are going to go on a run. It is nice to have that cushion so when teams do go on a run, you’re still up nine and not three.”

The Jaguars spent the rest of the third period and the start of the fourth trying to trim the deficit to single digits and cut it 11 several times. 

Five points from Marisa Tomlen, including a 3-pointer, with four minutes left made the score 43-33.

Scott answered for the Bulldogs at the other end with a score on the drive before Tomlen connected from the perimeter again with a wing 3-pointer at the 3:25 mark to get within single digits, 45-36.

Once again, Scott had an answer for Carl Junction, getting the ball in the paint and scoring on the inside for an 11-point advantage with time dwindling.

“It is always nice to have a player like Kylie,” Odaffer said. “If you ever need a bucket, a big rebound or a big putback, she’s there. She is that girl for us. She stepped up tonight and carried our team through some of those lulls when we couldn’t get things going. She is going to have to do that for us all season.”

The Jaguars added one more bucket inside the final 30 seconds, but would get no closer before the sound of the final horn. 

Scott had 22 to lead all scorers, 11 coming in each half, while Williams was right behind with 17 points, 10 in the first half. 

Tomlen led BVW in scoring with 13 points, while Makenzie Galliart closed with eight in the loss.

After taking second place in the CJ Classic and third place in the Lady Eagle Classic, the Bulldogs will look to continue their tournament success with a spot in the Lady Mustangs Classic hosted by McDonald County at the start of next week. 

“It is a building block,” Odaffer said of the early-season success in tournament play. “We go to Mac on Monday and play Farmington, who have been running teams out of the gym, too. We have our hands full on Monday, so we will need to get some rest tomorrow and get ready for them.”

Carl Junction matches up with Farmington at 8 p.m. on Monday. 

BLUE VALLEY NORTH 65 (KANSAS), RUSSELLVILLE (ARKANSAS) 47 (TITLE  GAME)

Blue Valley North, the top-ranked team in Class 6A, built a slim lead over Russellville by the end of the first quarter and methodically pushed the game out of reach as the seconds ticked off the clock on the way to a win in the championship game of the Freeman Lady Eagle Classic on Saturday.

The Mustangs held a 22-17 advantage after the first quarter and led by six at the intermission. Blue Valley North stretched the margin to 15 by the start of the final eight minutes and cruised to a win.

Tyara Davis led the way for Blue Valley North with a game-high 24 points, 14 coming in the second half, while Jaliya Davis was right behind with 23 points, with 12 coming in the first half. Ashley Alverson finished with eight points.

Brenna Burk had 16 to lead Russellville, while Shyisha Willis closed with 10 and Taleigh Ealy with eight.

ALL-TOURNEY TEAM

Ashley Alverson, Blue Valley North

Brenna Burk, Russellville

Jaliya Davis, Blue Valley North

Taylor Foster, Branson

Kylie Scott, Carl Junction

Aubrey Shaw, Blue Valley North

Shyisha Willis, Russellville

Joplin and Carthage girls basketball each suffered losses on Friday in the consolation bracket of the Freeman Lady Eagle Classic basketball tournament. 

The Eagles fell to Branson in the opening game of Day 2, while the Tigers were in a close game against Leavenworth before the Pioneers took the lead inside the final 90 seconds en route to the win. Both teams will meet up in the seventh-place game at 1 p.m.

BRANSON GIRLS 52, JOPLIN 19

Joplin struggled on the offensive end early, which allowed Branson to build a lead out of the gates that the Pirates held onto throughout en route to a win on the second day of the Freeman Lady Eagle Classic.

The Pirates took a 14-2 lead into the second quarter and pushed the advantage to more than 20 at the intermission. Branson held the pace through the second half. 

“Branson is a great team,” Joplin coach Brad Cox said. “They have all five starters returning from last year’s team. That said, we have to find a way to score the basketball. I thought we played much better in the second half. Defensively, our goal was to keep them under 50—we are averaging 40 points allowed per game—but we have to figure out a way to score more than 40 points a game. That’s kind of how this whole thing works, scoring more than you give up.”

Joplin was limited to one field goal in the first quarter, allowing Branson to jump out to a 12-point, 14-2 advantage by the start of the second period. The Pirates got a pair of 3-pointers from senior Maci Rogers and two buckets on the drive by freshman Angel Craig to fuel the opening-quarter surge.

Branson pushed its lead to more than 20 points near the midway point of the second period after starting the quarter on a 12-3 run to make the score 26-4 with 4:32 left in the first half. Senior Rylie Hagston had five early points, including a 3-pointer, with senior Taylor Foster adding a pair of inside scores.

Back to back scores off the drive from Craig put the Pirates on top 34-8 with a minute left in the first half.

Sophomore Alissa Owens had six points in the quarter for the Eagles.

“One word comes to my mind when I think about Alissa—heart,” Cox said. “She plays with her heart on her sleeve and she plays hard every second of the game. She hardly ever comes out of the game, and she is someone I am looking forward to seeing take steps forward to help our scoring and kind of be that go-to player for us. Once she can do that, it is going to open up others on the perimeter for us to get some uncontested shots.”

The Pirates scored the first seven points of the second half to push the lead past 30 points. Foster started things with an inside score before Ellison Mehrhoff scored on the break, drew a foul and knocked down the and-1 free throw before a back-cut score from Hagston to make the score 42-10 with six minutes left in the third period.

Four straight points from Taylor pushed the Pirates’ lead to 46-14 before an old-fashioned three-point-play from Owens sent Joplin into the fourth trailing 46-17.

Branson held the pace in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

The Pirates finished with three players in double figures, with Foster’s 12 points leading the way. Mehrhoff and Hagston each finished with 10 in the win.

Owens finished with 11 points to lead Joplin, while junior forward Aiyana Kroll closed with four points.

Branson takes on Leavenworth in the fifth-place game at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. 

Joplin is in the seventh-place game against Carthage at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

LEAVENWORTH 33, CARTHAGE 28

In a game where the lead never grew beyond two possessions with scoring at a premium, Leavenworth found a dash of momentum inside the final minute of play to earn the win over Carthage in the second consolation game of the day.

“I told the girls in the locker room that (the second half) was the best defensive half we’ve played all year,” Carthage coach Scott Moore said. “We have to build on that and continue to play like that. Unfortunately, one or two little miscues each quarter quickly resulted in a bucket for them. 

“Offensively, I thought our kids did a lot of things right, the ball just did not go in for us. We got good looks at 3s, they don’t go down. We did the hard work of getting to the basket, the ball rims out. We get a foul call, we don’t make enough free throws. We have to put more points on the board. We are not going to win a lot of games scoring in the 30s. We have to be in the 50s as a point total every game and if we get 50 tonight, we get a win.”

Carthage led by three after the first quarter before Leavenworth took a 14-13 lead into the intermission. The Tigers regained the lead by one point near the three-minute mark, but the Pioneers tied the game at 18s by the start of the final eight minutes. 

Carthage knocked down two free throws early in the fourth to go back on top before Leavenworth’s Aviana Garrett stepped into a 3-pointer from the wing for a 21-10 lead. Makiya Baker added a score on the break to push the lead to 23-20. 

Junior Lauren Choate buried a 3-pointer of her own from the win with five minutes left to tie the game at 23-all.

The lead seesawed back in favor of the Pioneers by three before the Tigers again tied the game at 27-27 with less than two and a half minutes to play. 

Leavenworth closed the game with the only real momentum swing when Hailey Garcia drove the lane before dishing off to her left to find Kylee West for a bucket on the low block to put the Pioneers on top 29-27 with 50 seconds left in regulation. 

That would be the last field goal of the contest, as Carthage cut the margin to one with a free throw from junior Lexa Youngblood with 34.6 seconds remaining.

Eva Clements earned a foul and went to the charity stripe with 14.8 seconds left and converted the first of two shots to push the lead to 30-28 before West grabbed the offensive rebound on the missed second charity and was fouled with 11.6 ticks left. West converted 1-of-2 free throws to push the lead to three points.

With time running out, Carthage got a clean look at the other end on a deep 3-pointer that was off wide, with the Pioneers grabbing the rebound and sinking the ensuing two free throws after a Tigers’ foul with less than a second to play to seal the win.

West had nine points to lead the Pioneers in scoring. Clements and Baker each finished with six in the win.

Choate closed with 11 points to lead the Tigers in scoring, while Youngblood was right behind with nine. Junior Ashlynn Brust finished with seven points in the loss.

Leavenworth takes on Branson in the fifth-place game at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. 

Carthage is in the seventh-place game against Joplin at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

“We want to come out and play with the same intensity as we played with today on both ends,” Moore said when asked when he wants to see from his team as they wrap up play. “That has to be our basement and we need to build from that. … We have established our base level of intensity for four quarters, now we have to keep increasing our success level each quarter. If we do, I think that will give us a good chance to be successful tomorrow and in the next couple of games heading into the Christmas break.”

CARL JUNCTION GIRLS 52, LEAVENWORTH 51

Carl Junction built a big lead early on but Leavenworth (Kansas) rallied back in a big way, cutting the lead to one several times down the stretch, only for the Bulldogs to stave off every comeback bid to hold onto the win in the opening round of the Freeman Lady Eagles Classic on Thursday.

“I was really proud of them,” first-year Carl Junction coach Ryan Odaffer said. “We have a lot of girls getting their first varsity experience. For them to keep their composure and find a way to get this win is just a building block that we can carry through the end of the season.”

Carl Junction looked to be in complete control from the early onset, jumping out to a 16-1 lead through the first five-plus minutes of action. Senior F Kylie Scott, an Oral Roberts signee, led the way with 10 first-quarter points, while senior F Anna Burch knocked down a 3-pointer on the way to five points in the opening period.

Leavenworth refused to allow the game to be decided in the first quarter, closing the stanza with an 8-2 run, with Kylee West scoring four, to trim the deficit to 18-9.

The Pioneers trailed 26-15 after a steal and score on the break by junior F DeShaye Buerge before Leavenworth responded by scoring 11 unanswered points to tie the game up at 26-all on a 3-ball from Hailey Garcia at the 3:08 mark. 

The Bulldogs used a trio of makes at the charity stripe and a euro-step layup from Scott to lead 31-26 into the intermission.

“We just weren’t getting back on defense,” Odaffer said when asked what the biggest difference was between the early play and late play of the first half. “We were giving up a lot of easy buckets to give them confidence. Once they got a few easy ones, beating us down the floor, it kind of opened it up for them.”

Carl Junction clung to its slim lead in the third quarter, with Leavenworth cutting the deficit to one twice—the first coming on an offensive rebound and putback from West to trim the Bulldogs’ lead to 38-37 at the three-minute mark and again when Hannah Gilman scored on the break after a CJ turnover to narrow the margin to 42-41 with 40 seconds left in the quarter. Scott knocked down two at the stripe to send CJ into the final eight minutes with a 44-41 cushion.

The fourth quarter played out much like the third, with Leavenworth constantly making a run at the lead and Carl Junction holding the Pioneers at bay each time they came close to overtaking the lead.

After a steal and layup on the break from junior F Dezi Williams to make the score 46-41, West had back to back buckets for the Pioneers to cut the deficit to 46-45 with five and a half minutes to play.

Scott answered with back to back buckets of her own before an inside score from Williams pushed the lead out to 52-45 with less than four minutes to go in regulation.

“We did a really good job, anytime they made a rally, to slow it down on offense and get a really good look,” Odaffer said. “When we slowed it down and ran the offense, we got what we wanted.”

The Pioneers got a top-of-the-key 3-pointer from Makiya Barker and a score in the paint from Eva Clements with two minutes left to cut CJ’s lead to one possession, 52-50, and later got 1-of-2 from the charity stripe by West to once again make it a one-point game, 52-51, with 33 seconds left.

Leavenworth had one final shot at the lead and the win with .7 seconds left, but missed wide at the horn to preserve the win for Carl Junction.

Scott finished with 20 points to lead CJ in scoring, while Burch finished with 13 and Williams had 12 points to give the Bulldogs three players in double figures in the win.

West had 19 points to lead Leavenworth, while Gilman finished with 10 points in the loss.

Carl Junction takes on Class 6A No.1 Blue Valley North (Kansas) in the championship semifinals at 9 p.m. on Friday.

BLUE VALLEY NORTH GIRLS 75, CARTHAGE 21

Blue Valley North (Kansas) started fast and never looked back in a win over Carthage in the opening round of the Freeman Lady Eagle Classic.

The Mustangs, ranked as the top team in Class 6A by Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, stretched an early 7-5 lead to 27-5 by the end of the first period, with Blue Valley North extending the cushion to 46-10 by the intermission.

Carthage (1-3), playing without junior G Maggie Boyd (illness), was unable to establish any momentum in the second half.

Junior Jaliya Davis and junior Aubrey Shaw each had 20 points to lead the Mustangs in scoring, while Tyara Davis had 10 points to give Blue Valley North three players in double figures. 

Junior Lauren Choate led Carthage in scoring with seven points, while junior Jaidyn Brunnert and junior Lexa Youngblood each finished with five in the loss.

Blue Valley North takes on Carl Junction in the championship semifinals at 9 p.m. on Friday.

Carthage takes on Leavenworth at 6 p.m. in the consolation bracket.