NEOSHO, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats and the Carthage Tigers went back-and-forth like a pair of champion boxers all Tuesday evening during their Central Ozark Conference bout at Neosho High School.
The lead exchanged hands many times — for example, Carthage led Neosho 34-29 late in the first half, but the Wildcats took a 41-34 early in the second half after scoring the final two points before halftime and the first 10 points after halftime.
Carthage regained the lead late in the third only to see Neosho tie it up at 48 entering the fourth.
Around the midway point of the fourth quarter, Neosho gained a 57-55 lead on a Brock Franklin 3-point basket and then extended it to 60-55 after three free throws from Isaiah Green and two Carthage empty possessions on the other end.
The Wildcats outscored the Tigers 24-19 in the fourth to earn a 72-67 win.
“My gosh, we got it up to eight (66-58) and we missed some free throws and fouled on an and-one,” Neosho coach Zane Culp said. “They didn’t go down without a fight, but Isaiah Green’s been great at the line at the end of games all year. (Carter) Baslee had a couple great shots there with Kael Smith facilitating in the middle. It was a great game.
“Thinking back, it was such a wild game that I don’t even remember certain parts of it. I just know Brock Franklin had a huge three in the corner that gave us the lead that we kept the whole time. (Carter) Fenske shot the heck out of it that first half.
“Yeah, I would say there in the second half the biggest difference is we made a few more free throws and they missed several, and we made our closer shots, they missed a few layups. When it comes down to two good teams, it’s the small things that make the difference.”
Carthage led 18-15 at the end of the first quarter, 34-31 at halftime, and 55-54 for the last time in the fourth.
“That was probably the fastest-paced first half of basketball that we’ve played all season,” Carthage coach Nathan Morris said. “I’m sure it was exciting basketball to watch. When it counted most, they made some big shots and some winning plays and the right pass. We just didn’t, and we had some chances. We did a good job of speeding them up late, earning some turnovers, and we were unable to finish. They were absolutely lights out from the free-throw line down the stretch.”
Green and Baslee led Neosho with 18 points each — Green scored 10 of his points Tuesday on free throws, including seven of them in the fourth, and Baslee finished strong around the basket for six of his points in the final three minutes. Baslee’s last two points on a breakaway slam dunk gave Neosho a 70-64 lead.
Smith added 14 points, Fenske finished with 12 points with a quartet of trifectas, Collier Hendricks scored all five of his points in a row to earn Neosho a 23-all score early in the second quarter, Franklin’s three points might have been the most important three of the game, and Jared Siler finished at the basket in the first quarter for his two points.
The Wildcats honored their seniors Green, Baslee, Smith, Fenske, Franklin, Siler, and Michael Day before the game Tuesday.
“When the seniors got here as freshmen, that was only my second year (as head coach),” Culp said. “We hadn’t had any kind of consistency, even having coaches for multiple seasons. We had a 14-win season every now and then, but as soon as they stepped on the floor as freshmen that wasn’t going to be status quo anymore. They challenged seniors, it didn’t matter, and it was like we’re here to win and that’s what we’re going to do.
“They were 19-3 as freshmen. When they stepped on the floor, they were on a mission to change this program. I’m just so glad I got to be the coach to shepherd them through. I’m so proud of them for all the accomplishments we’ve had. First back-to-back winning seasons since 2003, most wins in a season since 2003, and most COC wins ever … and playing in back-to-back district championship games during their run. They’re great young men and they’ve not only had a great season, but they’ve set us up moving on forward.”
Neosho improved to 19-6 overall and 6-2 COC, and the Wildcats finish their regular season on Thursday on the road against unbeaten and second-ranked in Class 6 Nixa (25-0, 8-0 COC).
“They haven’t lost,” Culp said. “All we can do is go in there and battle. We’ll find out our district seed (Wednesday). We should fall around the five or the six. We’ll see how that goes. Either way, it will probably be a rematch with either Republic or Joplin. It should be fun. Our mind is on Nixa. We’ll go out there and compete, and it’s not going to have any bearing on seeding. We just want to enjoy these last couple, hopefully several, games with these seniors.”
Max Templeman sparked Carthage with a game-high 30 points, while Justin Ray finished with 14, Clay Kinder 10, Britt Coy nine, and Kruz Castor and Trent Yates two points each.
“Max is an ultra-competitor no matter what he’s doing,” Morris said. “It doesn’t have to be basketball, it’s anything he does. Huge competitor and he means a lot to us. He puts a lot on his shoulders, and he didn’t probably have his best night late in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t for a lack of effort from any of our kids, we just didn’t finish the plays late.”
The Tigers finished their regular season 14-11 overall and 4-5 COC, and they find out their next opponent Wednesday when the seeds for the Class 6 District 5 tournament are determined.
