CARTHAGE, Mo. — Senior Hailey Fullerton made history for Carthage girls basketball as she entered the 1,000-point career scoring mark in the Tigers’ 55-30 win over McDonald County on Thursday.
“Hailey has been a tremendous player for the program for the last four years,” Carthage coach Scott Moore said. “It’s phenomenal that we were able to get this done in front of the home crowd. … I called a timeout with about three minutes to go and I put on the board that we needed six points for her to reach 1,000. Their eyes lit up and they wanted to get that for her.”
Fullerton, a 6-foot-1 standout for the Tigers since her freshman season, led Carthage with a game-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers and six fourth-quarter free throws. She entered the history books late in the fourth quarter when she knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing in transition with 46.7 seconds left in regulation to give the Tigers a 55-29 lead.
“I wanted to get this so bad in front of the home crowd,” Fullerton said. “Just having family and friends here, it was amazing to do something like that in front of the community.
“It was an amazing moment, especially with everybody cheering and my teammates giving me hugs and high fives. It was awesome.”
GAME NOTES
It was a struggle for Carthage (7-2) on the offensive end of the floor through the first 10 minutes of game action. Fortunately, there were no signs of struggle from the Tigers’ defense, as CHS limited McDonald County to five first-quarter points and eight second-quarter points.
“They came out and played a different style of defense,” Moore said. “They laid off of our wings and kind of forced us to run some different sets, and it took us a minute to gather our footing. I know this is a home game, but the cliche is that defense travels. Today, it was the defense that won us the game.”
Holding an 11-8 lead near the six-minute mark of the second period, Carthage’s shooting stroke showed up as two 3-pointers from Fullerton and a score on the drive by Katie Crowe fueled a 9-0 Tigers’ run to push the lead to 20-8 with 3:42 left before halftime.
“Once we got a flow and figured out their defense and made a couple of adjustments, it really opened things up,” Moore said. “That 9-0 spurt let us take a deep breath and relax. We just just kind of kept pushing the lead every four minutes from there.”
Carthage carried a 27-13 lead into the intermission and pushed the lead to 17, 33-16, following a 3-ball from Fullerton and a Tigers’ free throw near the midway point of the third quarter.
Carthage pushed the lead to more than 20 points for the first time in the game when Brinna Ream knocked down a baseline jumper followed by two free throws from Kianna Yates to make the score 49-29 with 3:04 left in regulation.
“I like the maturity of our team,” Moore said. “An immature team has a 20-point lead and wins by 12. A mature team has a 20-point lead and tries to win by more than 30. Our girls, with our four senior leaders and sophomore point guard deep into her high school career, are giving the energy and showing maturity to succeed and pull away at the end of games.”
The Tigers finished the game strong with a 10-1 run, with Fullerton accounting for eight of those points.
“Tonight was amazing,” Fullerton said. “Our team has jumped out to a really good start (this season). We just keep going. I just can’t wait to see what the rest of the season holds for us.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Carthage lost starting senior guard Lauren Wilson with 27 seconds left in the first quarter to a knee injury following a fast-break layup attempt. She did not return to the game.
“She is such a great energy player,” Moore said. “She doesn’t necessarily put up a lot of numbers in scoring or on the stat sheet, but she is the one who guards their wings and makes our press what it is. We really missed her energy out there. She is just a great senior leader for us as well.”
SCORING LEADERS
Behind Fullerton’s 22 points, Ream, a senior, stepped up in Wilson’s absence with 10 points to finish second in scoring for the Tigers.
“Brinna has been getting her basketball feet under her,” Moore said. “She gives us a spark when she is out there. She is physical and offensive-minded. She will fill in that role nicely for us while Lauren is out.”
Yates added nine points, while Crowe scored five and Sophie Shannon four.
Samara Smith led McDonald County with five points, while Nevaeh Dodson, Carlee Cooper and Kristen Penn each scored four.
UP NEXT
Carthage hits the road for a matchup with Mount Vernon on Friday.
