CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage went to the press early and forced Central (Springfield) into a plethora of turnovers on the way to a 63-24 win over the Bulldogs on Monday.
The Tigers (5-1) jumped out to an 8-0 cushion early thanks to their press defense, which ultimately helped Carthage build a 20-plus point lead by the intermission. Carthage didn’t let up in the second half with a 10-0 run to start the third period before eventually forcing a running clock and cruising to victory over the Bulldogs (0-2).
“I liked our energy and effort in the first half,” Carthage coach Scott Moore said. “Anytime you can hold a varsity team to single digits in the first half is a really good defensive effort. Our shooting was good in the first half, which I liked because we haven’t necessarily shot the ball well this year. … I liked the ball movement on offense and the pressure and execution of defense.”
GAME ACTION
After getting the first basket of the game on an elbow jumper from sophomore G Lexa Youngblood, Carthage went to the pressure defense early, pressing Central into five first-quarter turnovers and six points off those turnovers to jump out to an 8-0 lead early. Sophomore G Lauren Choate knocked down a 3-pointer before Youngblood and sophomore G Maggie Boyd earned a steal and scored on the break the other way, with Boyd adding a free throw to fill out the run.
“The girls love to get out and press,” Moore said. “It gives them energy. It’s a quote I use often, but our offense sets up our defense. We have to score to press. We don’t press on misses. We have to get buckets—make layups, free throws and hit open shots so that we can get into our press package.
“Then, the girls get excited and you start seeing the towels wagging off the bench and we get energy. We start swarming teams like that, it can snowball quickly and then we get that sizable lead that allows us to play free and fast, which is what we want to do.”
Choate added a second 3-pointer and sophomore F Jaidyn Brunnert also connected from the perimeter to give the Tigers a 14-6 lead after the first eight minutes.
The Tigers’ suffocating defense continued to perform in the second quarter, limiting Central to just two points and forcing four more turnovers in the period. Carthage outscored Central 16-2 in the quarter to take a 30-8 lead into halftime.
“One of the things that we have been trying to work on is the back end of the press,” Moore said of the defensive performance in the second quarter. “Just because they break the press doesn’t mean they should get an open shot or layup. We have to rotate, and I thought we did a great job of shutting it down at the end when they broke the press in the second quarter. We also did a fairly decent job of boxing out.”
Choate pushed the lead to double digits with a scoop layup to make the score 17-6. Senior G Kianna Yates added a runner, with Boyd, Choate and sophomore F Zye Clark also added 2-point field goals, while junior G Trisha Kanas added a 3-pointer.
Carthage started the second half on a 10-0 run to push the lead to more than 30 points. Yates opened the scoring in the second half with a driving score before Youngblood earned a steal for a score on the break the other way. Another Bulldogs’ turnover led to a basket from Choate before Yates pushed the lead to 38-8 with 6:26 on the clock with a score on the break. Youngblood scored in the paint to close the run.
Carthage closed the third period with a 54-16 lead, cruising to victory down the stretch in the fourth quarter with a running clock.
SCORING LEADERS
All nine Tigers scored in the win over Central. Choate led the way with 17 points, while Youngblood finished with 12 for Carthage. Yates had nine in the win, while Brunnert finished with eight. Kanas had six points and Boyd finished with five. Landry Cochran, Clark and Ashlyn Brust all had two.
“I liked the way we shared the ball,” Moore said of the offensive output. “They sat in a zone, which isn’t easy to penetrate and get a lot of action that way. Typically, we score more through penetration than from the outside. Tonight, we got short penetration, collapsed the zone and got kickouts, which was really unselfish basketball and how you get all nine players scoring.”
UP NEXT
Carthage hosts Nevada on Thursday.
