Joplin built a double-digit lead by halftime and kept Carl Junction at bay down the stretch en route to a 73-58 win on Wednesday in Central Ozark Conference action.
The Eagles (11-7, 2-1 COC) used a 9-0 scoring run in the first quarter to gain the lead and added another scoring run to open the second period to build a 38-23 lead by the intermission. Carl Junction (7-13, 0-3 COC) trimmed the lead to 11 to start the fourth before Joplin nearly pushed the advantage to 20 down the stretch while closing out the conference win.
“We didn’t have practice at all this week because of the weather, so I knew we would be a little heavy-legged and stagnant early,” Joplin coach Bronson Schaake said. “In the second quarter, we held them to six points, and I don’t think we guarded well in the second half, but our ball movement was really good. We were getting to the paint like we wanted.”
GAME ACTION
Carl Junction and Joplin battled through the first half of the opening period before the Eagles used a 9-0 surge to take a 17-10 advantage with two minutes left in the first quarter. Cooper Williams and All Wright came up with the first four points of the run before Terrance Gibson finished with the last five, including a pair of field goals in the paint.
“We got stops,” Schaake said about what fueled the first-quarter run. “We started to figure out what they were wanting to do, and they have some good kids. (Ayden Bard) is a tough matchup and (Cooper Vediz) is going to be really good. … I think we just kind of adjusted.”
Joplin ultimately took a 23-17 lead into the second period on a 3-ball from Collis Jones from the wing with 23 seconds left.
The Eagles scored the first six points of the second period to build a 29-17, with Gibson dunking on the break before grabbing an offensive rebound for a putback score. Wright added a drive near the five-minute mark.
“I did not feel like our defensive effort was there tonight,” Carl Junction coach Justin Pock said. “I didn’t feel like we could get stops, we got beat to every loose ball and they beat us on the glass. Joplin is good, athletic team. We gave them too many oppotunities and then we just tried to run with them. We could never catch up that way.”
After a 3-pointer from Carl Junction’s Jett Hocut, Wright buried a 3-pointer before Gibson added a bucket on the break for a 34-20 lead late in the period, with Joplin ultimately taking a 15-point lead into the intermission.
“When he is on around the bucket it just opens everything up,” Schaake said of Gibson’s play in the first half to help Joplin get to a double-digit lead by the intermission. “When he is active, we are a different team. We need that. I thought it also opened up a little bit for (Whit) Hafer, who hit a couple of 3s. And he is doing a great job as far as defense and being a leader out there. When those two are going, we are a different team.”
Carl Junction got seven points from Ayden Bard and seven points from Cooper Vediz in the third period to cut the Eagles’ lead to 55-44 heading into the fourth quarter.
Joplin never allowed Carl Junction to make a serious run at the lead down the stretch. In fact, they pushed the lead out further down the stretch when given the opportunity.
“I think we are maturing and starting to figure out some things like clock management,” Schaake said of his team’s ability to expand on the lead when closing out the win. “We are starting to figure out when to attack and when not to attack.”
The Eagles pushed the lead to a game-high 18 points with 2:30 left in the game off of back-to-back scores from Gibson to make the score 69-51.
SCORING LEADERS
Gibson finished with a team-high 24 points, 13 in the first half, to lead Joplin in scoring. Wright was right behind with 22 points, including a set of 3-pointers. Whit Hafer knocked down two 3-pointers on the way to 11 points to give the Eagles three players in double figures.
Bard finished with a game-high 27 points to lead Carl Junction in scoring, while Vediz finished in double figures with 13.
UP NEXT
Joplin is at Nixa (19-0) on Friday.
Carl Junction is at Willard on Friday.
