CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage and Hillcrest tipped off Tuesday night in a back and forth boys basketball game that would come right down to the buzzer.
In the end, Hillcrest would leave town with a 56-53 win.
Hillcrest made the first basket, but Carthage responded by going on a 6-2 run thanks to two baskets from sophomore Max Templeman and a field goal from senior Silas Templeman.
The Hornets responded to nearly pull even, but freshman Justin Ray of the Tigers hit two 3-pointers to give Carthage a 12-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair, as each team exchanged runs.
Carthage started with a 5-0 run, as the Templemans continued their big games. Hillcrest answered with a 7-2 run. With just two minutes left, the Tigers had three straight rebounds on the same possession that eventually led to an ‘and one’ from Silas Templeman.
The Tigers also had baskets from senior Sam Feurt and junior Caden Kabance to end the half on an 8-2 run. They led 27-19 at the break.
Neither team was able to establish a solid run in the third quarter, exchanging baskets for the entire period. Max Templeman added two more field goals, Kabance added one and junior Joel Pugh added a basket and two free throws.
Hillcrest scored 14 points of their own, pulling the score to within five. Carthage continued their solid night of rebounding to maintain their lead of 37-33 heading into the fourth.
“We are a small team, and basically we have to start five guards,” Carthage coach Nathan Morris said. “The fact that we were able to battle on the boards like that was huge. Rebounding was something we keyed in on at halftime. We didn’t grab a couple there at the end that hurt us, so it’s something we still want to keep working on.”
Despite Carthage leading the entire game, Hillcrest wasn’t ready to call it quits quite yet.
Max Templeman continued his streak with two more baskets, giving him 17 points on the night.
After a quiet third quarter, Silas Templeman went off for eight points, with three field goals and two free throws. He had 15 points. Ray also added a basket, and Kabance hit two free throws.
The Hornets similarly made almost all of their baskets, most of them threes, to tie the game at 53 with just under a minute left.
After regaining possession on a rebound, Hillcrest held the ball as the clock ran out and Crishawn Haggard drained a three on a buzzer-beater to give them a 56-53 win.
“It’s frustrating to lead for almost the entirety of the game and to not be able to close it out,” Morris said. “Our guards were better tonight. We have three really young guards and, on some nights, they struggle, but tonight they played really well. We are not a big team, so we must keep complete energy for 32 minutes. We’re getting there and I know this team is hungry to get there.”
