CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Carl Junction closed each of the first three quarters on a significant scoring run on the way to defeating Aurora 72-46 in the home opener on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs (3-1) trailed for much of the first eight minutes before a late scoring surge gave them a slight advantage heading into the second quarter. Carl Junction again found life at the end of the second period and used another scoring run late to push the lead to eight points by the intermission. Continuing the trend of the night, the Bulldogs closed the third quarter with even more momentum to cement the win in front of the Carl Junction faithful.
“This was great for the home opener,” Carl Junction coach Justin Pock said. “I thought we had a good crowd tonight. The boys are really playing well. We have a mix of seniors and freshmen and some juniors in there. They are playing well together. The ball is not sticking. They’re finding each other. … It takes all of us, and they did a good job of that tonight.”
The Bulldogs trailed for much of the opening quarter and were down 15-9 before closing the period on a 7-0 run to take a 16-15 advantage into the second quarter. Junior Jett Hocut had a 3-pointer, while freshman Cooper Vediz grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback and senior Ky Warren closed the quarter with a baseline jumper to grab the lead for the Bulldogs.
“Today, kids always remember the last play,” Pock said about the significance of grabbing the lead before the quarter change. “We talk about focusing on the next play, but what they remember is the last. It was a momentum swing for us. Things weren’t going right early and they didn’t wallow or anything like that. I thought the guys did a good job of continuing to push forward.”
Holding a slim 29-28 cushion, Carl Junction closed the second quarter just as it did the first. The Bulldogs scored the half’s final seven points to take an eight-point, 36-28 advantage into the intermission.
Hocut started the run with a putback bucket before sophomore Wyatt McAfee added a jumper in the paint and a make at the charity stripe for a 34-28 lead. Senior Lucas Vanlanduit closed the first half with a steal and score on the break just before the horn.
Carl Junction essentially put the game out of reach with a 12-2 surge at the end of the third quarter. Leading by nine, 44-35, the Bulldogs used a 3-pointer from senior Ayden Bard and a free throw from Vediz to build a 48-35 lead. After Aurora’s Haze Hoffman scored inside, CJ ended the period with back to back scores from Vediz inside before Hocut scored on the break off a Houn’ Dawgs’ turnover and Bard scored on a drive just before the buzzer to give CJ a 56-37 cushion.
“One thing I think we have done all year is play with a lot of effort,” Pock said of his team’s play at the end of each quarter. “Even if things don’t go our way, like in the beginning of the game, we always talk about how we have to finish out the quarter. Sometimes there is too much emphasis on the start of the quarter. We want to finish it strong, and I felt like we did that tonight.”
Vediz scored on the drive out of the final break to push the lead to more than 20, with the Bulldogs never looking back in the win.
SCORING
Bard finished with a game-high 22 points for the Bulldogs, including a pair of 3-pointers. Vediz finished with 18 points. Vanlanduit added eight points and Warren finished with six.
UP NEXT
Carl Junction hosts Pittsburg on Friday.
