WEBB CITY, Mo. — Ignited by a tremendous start, Webb City earned a 61-54 victory over longtime rival Carthage on Tuesday night in an intense Central Ozark Conference boys basketball clash.
Taking the court for the final regular season home date, the energized Cardinals came out firing on all cylinders. Dominant on both ends, Webb City built a 21-point cushion in the first quarter.
“That’s probably the best eight minutes of basketball we’ve played all year,” Cardinals coach Jason Horn said of his team’s first quarter. “Defensively, we were flying around and our ball pressure was really good. Offensively, we were playing inside-out. We were getting easy shots at the rim and we were able to connect on some 3s. Everything was clicking for us.”
The Tigers pulled within four early in the fourth quarter before the Cardinals did more than enough down the stretch to secure the Senior Night win.
“It was a combination of foul trouble and we had a letdown defensively,” Horn said. “We started getting comfortable and getting out of position. We told them the game was far from over and that we needed to continue to play at a high level and stay focused. We had a letdown in the second quarter and Carthage’s intensity rose. We knew Carthage wasn’t going to quit. They’re a good team.”
The Tigers, who outscored the Cardinals 48-38 after the opening frame, simply couldn’t overcome the poor start.
“You can’t fault our kids for how hard they played,” Tigers coach Nathan Morris said. “But that’s what we told the guys last year when they were learning and maturing and not ready to win games…you’re going to get congratulated for playing hard. But just playing hard doesn’t win you the game. We didn’t show up in big moments tonight. Kudos to Webb City for making free throws and kudos to their seniors.”
Ranked sixth in Class 5, Webb City hiked its record to 17-8 overall and 5-3 in the COC.
The Cardinals went 17-for-38 from the floor (45 percent).
A key to the win was free throwing shooting. The Cardinals made 22-of-26 at the charity stripe.
Senior forward Kaden Turner paced Webb City with 14 points and nine boards, while senior guard Cohl Vaden had 12 points and four assists before being ejected in the third quarter.
Junior guard Dante Washington scored 11 points, while senior guard Max Higginbotham contributed nine points on three treys.
Webb City out-rebounded Carthage 35-17.
Carthage slipped to 18-7 and 4-5 in conference games.
The Tigers made 19-of-51 field goal attempts (37 percent).
Junior guard Max Templeman led the Tigers with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Senior guard Joel Pugh added 13 points and five rebounds.
GAME RECAP
With everything going their way, the Cardinals raced out to a 23-2 lead.
But the Tigers regrouped and finished the first half on a 20-8 run. Webb City’s halftime advantage was 31-22.
The third quarter was nearly even, as the Tigers outscored the Cardinals 13-10.
In a third period that featured a little bit of everything, Webb City’s Trey Roets had to go to the bench with his fourth foul. Next, Vaden had to head to the locker room after picking up a flagrant foul and then a technical.
A trey from Britt Coy cut Webb City’s lead to 39-35, but Isaiah Brisco’s hoop gave the Cardinals a 41-35 advantage heading into the final eight minutes.
The back-and-forth fourth quarter saw the Cardinals clinging to a slim lead. The Tigers received treys from Clay Kinder and Pugh, but the Cardinals never relinquished their lead.
A trey from Higginbotham made it 60-50 with just under two minutes to play.
Webb City made 13-of-14 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter, with Dupree Jackson, Turner, Roets and Washington contributing.
“Carthage kept coming at us,” Horn said. “We had some seniors who didn’t want to lose their last home game. They willed us to that victory. Kaden Turner was great on the free throw line. Dupree Jackson and Isaiah Brisco stepped up. Max hit a big shot down the stretch. It was a group effort. Dante stepped up and handled the point. Landon Johnson was big for us in the second quarter.”
Webb City is slated to play at Branson on Thursday, weather permitting.
SENIOR NIGHT
Webb City recognized seniors Cohl Vaden, Kaden Turner, Dupree Jackson, Isaiah Brisco, Max Higginbotham and Baylor Dickinson on Tuesday.
“It’s a great group,” Horn said. “They’ve gotten better every year and we’ve been fortunate to have them in the program. They’ve worked hard to get to this point. It’s been great to see their growth. Their leadership has been huge this year. They want to go out the right way. They’re hungry to keep playing.”
DISTRICT TOURNEYS
Carthage’s boys are the sixth seed for the loaded Class 6 District 5 tournament. The Tigers take on No. 3 Ozark at 7:30 on Monday at JHS.
“We didn’t take care of business against two of the three district teams that we faced,” Morris said. “We’ve got Ozark. We battled them for three quarters before they put it on us in the fourth quarter. If there’s anything that’s going to fuel you, I would think it would be giving up 80 points to Ozark last week.”
Webb City’s boys are the No. 3 seed for the district tourney. The Cardinals take on No. 6 McDonald County at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“Our district is loaded with four ranked teams,” Horn said. “There’s not an easy game. We have our work cut out with McDonald County. They have a good group and I know they’ll be looking forward to playing us again. At this point, it’s survive and advance.”
FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)
