CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage evened its record with its first win of the season after a momentum-sealing third quarter propelled the Tigers to a 60-50 victory over Hillcrest on Tuesday.
The Tigers earned their first win of the season, evening their record at 1-1, thanks in large part to the effort on the defensive end. After building a five-point lead after the first quarter, Hillcrest turnovers to start the second period gave Carthage the momentum after converting them into easy buckets the other way. The Tigers outscored the Hornets 12-4 in the third period on the way to building an insurmountable lead down the stretch. Hillcrest rallied to cut the lead to single digits late, but was never in serious threat of making a comeback.
“We had the lead pushed up to over 20 and I was happy with that,” Carthage coach Scott Moore said. “In the third quarter, we made a great run, like 12-4, to stretch our nine-point lead out. Those are the quarters we want to have.
“I didn’t like how the fourth quarter went. We have to play 32 minutes. That last five, those are the kids clamouring for more minutes and want to play more. You have to show that. When you get opportunities, you have to prove to us that you are ready for the varsity level, but they will learn from that and that’s part of being a young group.”
Carthage jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, including a runout basket that turned into a three-point play off the tip by Presley Probert and a steal and layup from Kianna Yates within the first minute of play.
The Tigers held a five-point lead going into the second quarter before a 10-2 run to open the period gave Carthage a 24-11 lead with 5:32 to play in the first half.
A Carthage steal turned into a Raven Probert layup on the break before Sophie Shannon scored inside off the assist by Yates. On the next trip down the floor, Yates knocked down a midrange jumper before a steal of the ensuing inbounds pass led to a bucket by Landry Cochran that gave the Tigers a 13-point lead.
“Our offense triggers our defense,” Moore said. “We have to get buckets to press. Our girls love to press. That is all they want to do. But we have to get buckets. If we get a steal and miss a layup, we can’t press again.”
Carthage held serve and went into the intermission with a 33-24 advantage before a 12-4 run in the third period essentially put the game out of reach for Hillcrest.
Yates assisted on a fast-break score by Cochran before knocking down a runner with 4:25 on the clock to push the lead to 37-24. Carthage finished out the quarter with a baseline basket from Presley Probert and a 3-pointer from the wing by Daniela Marquez off the assist by Maggie Boyd to make the score 45-28.
“We made some adjustments on the press break,” Moore said of his team’s play in the third quarter. “That is where we got those steals and were able to put that game away. … I was glad to see that the girls took what we talked about with adjustments at halftime and immediately went out and went on that run in the third quarter.”
Carthage opened the fourth quarter with a steal and layup by Yates before Raven Probert converted a 3-ball from the corner for a 22-point lead, 50-28.
Hillcrest whittled the lead down to single digits, 59-50, on a 3-pointer by Kiley Coffelt with 36 seconds left, but the Hornets never made a serious run at the lead by the sound of the final horn.
SCORING LEADERS
Yates had a game-high 21 points to lead Carthage, while Shannon also finished in double figures with 10. Cochran closed with eight points, while Boyd turned in seven points.
Jamyra Parlette finished with 15, while Jim’Mesha Davis closed with 14 to anchor Hillcrest. Chloe Sutherland also finished in double figures with 11.
UP NEXT
Carthage hosts the Lady Tigers Basketball Invitational, which runs from Dec. 1-4. Carthage opens the tournament with a matchup against Har-Ber at 7 p.m. on Dec. 1.
