CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Carthage High School girls basketball team pulled off a comeback to remember on Friday night.
Carthage overcame a 16-point deficit en route to a confidence-building 67-46 victory over Sunrise Christian Academy on the second day of the Lady Tigers Shootout.
Down 15 at the end of the first quarter, Carthage outscored Sunrise Christian from Kansas 62-26 the rest of the way in what could be described as a stunning turnaround.
“I wouldn’t even call it a comeback,” Tigers coach Scott Moore said. “In the first quarter, the girls were playing hard and they were executing, but the ball just wasn’t rolling in. Our shots were just rolling out. At the end of the first quarter, I told them to keep doing what they’re doing and the ball will start to go in. And then it did. I was really pleased with how we battled back and didn’t let that first quarter affect us mentally for the rest of the game.”
Sunrise Christian led 20-4 in the first quarter, and it looked like it may be a long night for the hosts. But the Tigers owned the second period, outscoring the visitors 23-6. Down 24-11 in the second quarter, Carthage finished the first half on a 17-2 run.
Ashlyn Brust scored five points during a 7-0 spurt, with Landry Cochran adding a hoop. Sunrise stopped the surge, but Carthage scored 10 unanswered points to end the half. Jaidyn Brunnert hit a 3-pointer and then hit two free throws before Lauren Choate knocked a corner trey and Kianna Yates scored a go-ahead basket in the lane to give the Tigers a 28-26 halftime advantage.
Carthage doubled up Sunrise in the third period, 18-9, to pull away. Yates scored 11 in the third period and the Tigers held a 46-35 lead entering the final frame.
“If we make shots we can get into our pressing package,” Moore said of a key to success. “And then our defense can create offense. But when you’re missing shots, you can’t press.”
The Tigers won the fourth quarter 21-11 to blow the game open.
Choate’s second 3-pointer of the fourth period gave CHS a 56-41 cushion. Moments later, Yates buried a trey of her own for a comfy 61-43 advantage.
The Tigers sank 8-of-11 free throws down the stretch to finish off an inspired come from behind win.
Moore noted his team’s improved defense was a key to victory.
“We locked down defensively and held them to 26 in the last three quarters,” Moore said. “That’s really good defense in high school girls basketball…. that’s like nine points a quarter. The last three quarters are indicative of how we want to play for four quarters every night.”
A 5-foot-5 do-it-all point guard, Yates scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Tigers. A sophomore guard, Choate scored 19 points, with 13 coming in the second half. Yates and Choate knocked down four treys apiece.
“Kianna’s always a steadying force for us,” Moore said. “In the second quarter, she started distributing the ball and getting us better shots. I was really pleased with that. And she scored 23 points, so that’s a Kianna Yates type of game. Lauren Choate found her stroke from the outside tonight and that was great to see.”
Also for the Tigers, Brust and Maggie Boyd each scored seven points, while Brunnert had five and Cochran scored four. Lexa Youngblood pulled down eight rebounds to go with two points.
Valentina Hart scored 12 points to lead Sunrise Christian, while Kaitlyn Edwards and Claire Ferguson added 10 points apiece.
Carthage (3-0) meets Bentonville (Ark.) at 12:30 on Saturday to see which team can go undefeated in Shootout play. Bentonville has tourney wins over Sunrise Christian and Webb City.
“Tomorrow we’re going to see the other best team in the tournament in Bentonville,” Moore said. “We’re going to need to bring our ‘A’ game for four quarters. Three quarters won’t get it done against them.”
In other Shootout action on Friday, Bentonville finished strong in a 54-42 win over Webb City and El Dorado Springs beat Olathe East (Kan.) 54-46.
