CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — The Carl Junction Bulldogs were right there late in the first half on Tuesday against the unbeaten Nixa Eagles, the defending Class 6 state runner-up and currently ranked second in Class 6.
Carl Junction junior guard Jett Hocut’s trifecta drew the Bulldogs to a 27-24 score, but the Eagles scored four of the last five points of the first half and then 12 of the first 15 points after halftime to extend their lead to 43-28 on their way to a 65-44 win over Carl Junction.
Carl Junction coach Justin Pock definitely looked on the bright side after the loss.
“I am happy with our effort,” Pock said. “You’ve got to compete with Nixa. They haven’t lost a game, they’re No. 2 in Class 6 for a reason, and I was really proud of my kids and how hard they’ve played. We competed and a couple different things could change a little bit, a couple different bounces go our way and who knows, but I was glad we competed and did some good things against a real good basketball team.”
The perimeter shooting of Hocut and freshman guard Cooper Vediz allowed the Bulldogs to hang around in the first half, while their defense limited Nixa to 13 points in the second quarter after the Eagles scored 18 in the first.
Vediz and Hocut combined for 17 first-half points.
Nixa came out in the second half with five points within the first 30 seconds and built a 53-37 lead after three quarters behind a 22-12 advantage in the third.
Vediz led Carl Junction with 17 points, Hocut scored all eight of his points in the first half, senior Ayden Bard also finished with eight points but six of his were scored in the second half, sophomore Wyatt McAfee added seven points, senior Xavier Perkins scored three points, and freshman Deacon Endicott reached the scoring column with a late made free throw.
The Bulldogs dropped to 5-11 overall and 0-2 in the Central Ozark Conference with six losses in a row headed into their home game Friday against Big 8 Conference opponent Monett.
Despite a pair of 20-point losses to start conference play, Pock has seen positive signs from his team against Republic and Nixa, Class 6 teams a combined 30-1 on the season thus far.
“I think we’re improving,” Pock said. “We’ve got to keep the competitive level that we played against Republic and Nixa for anyone that we play. We have to continue to play at our high level and play our game.”
Kael Combs led Nixa with 17 points, Noah Engelman and Garrett Hines each finished with 14, Corey Kemp had eight, Josh Powers added seven, Carsten Seitz hit a three for his points, and Ramone Green contributed two points.
