NEOSHO, Mo. — The result between Neosho and Carthage played out similarly to what you would expect between two area and conference rivals with 15 wins apiece meeting on the hardwood in the later stages of the regular season.
Neither team held more than a two-possession lead in a back-and-forth first half, with seven points being the biggest spread until the final two and a half minutes of regulation. Ultimately, it was a late scoring run by Carthage down the stretch in the fourth quarter which led to the Tigers earning a 66-57 Central Ozark Conference road win over Neosho on Tuesday.
“I told our guys that I didn’t think we were very physical on Saturday (against Republic) but tonight, we were very physical on both sides,” Carthage coach Nathan Morris said after the win. “Our kids needed to be able to win a game like that. It had a lot of adversity, back and forth with a lot of lead changes. I am really proud of our kids. I told them at halftime that the last 16 minutes of this game are going to mean a lot to the rest of our basketball season.”
With the win, Carthage improves to 16-5, 2-3 in the COC, while Neosho, which entered the contest as the 10th-ranked team in Class 5, falls to 15-6, 2-2 in the COC.
“I thought offensively, we played well,” Neosho coach Zane Culp said. “I just think we had a hard time keeping them down. They had a lot of different guys do it, it seemed like. Max (Templeman) is one of the top players in the area and they had their other guys step up. It was a really good, fun game that was back and forth. They just made a few more shots than us and came out on the other end.”
GAME ACTION
Neosho held the first two-possession lead, which came in the first quarter when the Wildcats built a 13-7 lead with four minutes expired thanks to the play of K’dyn Waters, who found his rhythm early and scored 17 first-quarter points.
Neosho took a 21-20 lead into the second period before Carthage started with the first six points of the quarter, four coming off the drive from Max Templeman, to build their own two-possession lead, 26-21. Joel Pugh buried a 3-pointer from the corner just before time expired in the first half to give the Tigers a 34-30 lead by halftime.
Carthage built its biggest lead of the game when a 6-2 run in the closing minutes of the third period, highlighted by a mid-range jumper from Justin Ray and a layup on the break off a turnover by Pugh with 2:15 on the clock, to put the Tigers on top 49-42.
Neosho answered back with a 3-pointer from the wing by Brock Franklin and a score on the drive by Waters to trim the Wildcats’ deficit to two, 49-47, to close the third period.
The Tigers started the final eight minutes of action with a mid-range jumper from Ray and a pair of free throws by Clay Kinder before the Wildcats answered back with a three-point play from Waters and a score on the drive by Franklin to cut Carthage’s advantage to 53-52 with 5:10 left in regulation.
The Tigers put the game out of reach with their response, scoring the next 11 points to build a 64-52 lead with 49 seconds left to play. Caden Kabance started the run with a pair of baskets in the paint before making two charities from the foul line. Pugh added two free throws before Kinder converted inside and drew contact for a three-point play to make the score 63-52 with 1:58 left. Ray added a make at the foul line to close the run, effectively putting the game out of reach for Neosho.
“Our supporting roles, when we don’t have Justin, Joel and Max producing well, have struggled at times,” Morris said. “I thought Clay, Caden, even Sylas (Browning) and Tyler Willis came in and really gave us a big lift as well as Britt Coy defensively.”
SCORING LEADERS
The Tigers finished with four players in double figures, led by Templeman’s 21 points, 10 of which came in the first quarter. Pugh finished with 14 points, while Kinder and Ray each finished with 12 points.
Waters finished with a game-high 36 points in the win, 14 coming in the second half. Isaiah Green finished with eight points, while Kael Smith closed with six points. Franklin scored five points in the loss.
UP NEXT
Carthage hosts Willard on Friday, while Neosho hosts Branson on Friday to continue COC play.
“This is the most wins since 2010 and tied for the most wins since 2005 [15 wins], but you can’t be satisfied with that,” Culp said when asked how he wants to see his team navigate the final stretch of the season. “If you feel a little satisfied playing this stretch in the COC, it will get ugly. I told them we have to show up to practice ready to fight and be ready to go against Branson. If you start looking ahead, the COC can look pretty daunting. If you just worry about the first possession of the next game, it won’t seem as daunting.”
