CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Carl Junction boys basketball saw a five-point deficit after the first quarter slip to double digits by halftime before Hillcrest pulled away in the second half to a 76-42 win on Monday.
“We made too many errors that they capitalized on,” Carl Junction coach Justin Pock said. “I didn’t think our execution was very good tonight. We got some good looks and didn’t finish. We fouled them and put them on the line way too many times, and we didn’t play good defense.”
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 5-0 lead on a 3-pointer from Sincere Williams and an inside basket from Josh Cory.
A 7-0 run midway through the period fueled by a driving score by Devin Oliver and a 3-ball from Crishawn Haggard sent the Hornets to an 11-7 advantage.
Hillcrest eventually took a 16-11 lead into the second quarter and started on a 9-2 run to build a 23-13 margin. Turnovers plagued Carl Junction to open the second period, which led to a 34-21 deficit to start the third quarter.
“We’ve been talking about it a lot, that we have to cut down our turnovers,” Pock said. “We are shooting ourselves in the foot turning the ball over trying to make a great play when we could just handle the basketball and run our offense. We have to take better care of the basketball.”
The Hornets methodically pushed the lead, building it to 20 points for the first time with 1:23 to play following an old-fashioned three-point play from DeeVon Braxton to make the score 53-33. Hillcrest converted two three-point plays in the third quarter, but missed and-one free throws on three more attempts.
“I think they just played more physical than we did in the second half,” Pock said. “Like I told my guys, it’s just one of those where they just seemed like they wanted it more than we did in the second half. That is what I was disappointed at. We are going to miss shots sometimes, but to me, the effort in the second half wasn’t there like I’ve seen all year.”
The Hornets continued the pace, pushing the lead to 30 and starting the running clock in the fourth on the way to closing out the win.
SCORING LEADERS
Alex Baker led Carl Junction with 12 points, while Williams finished with nine. Cory added eight in the loss.
Haggard led Hillcrest with 24 points, while Braxton added 18.
UP NEXT
Carl Junction travels to Lebanon for a 7:30 p.m. tip on Tuesday.
