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GIRLS HOOPS ROUNDUP: Carthage hangs tough with No. 3 Republic; Joplin suffers setback at No. 7 Nixa

By:
SoMo Sports staff reports

 

REPUBLIC GIRLS 68, CARTHAGE 53

REPUBLIC, Mo. — Carthage girls basketball coach Scott Moore looked on the bright side after his team suffered a 68-53 Central Ozark Conference setback to the third-ranked Republic Tigers on Thursday night.

“I don’t say this much after losses, but I’m really proud of how our girls played tonight,” Moore told SoMo Sports. “We played even with the No. 3 ranked team in Class 6 for 28 minutes. Those last four didn’t go our way, but that doesn’t tarnish how well we played tonight. 

“This was probably one of our best games of the year,” Moore added. “We discussed in the locker room how this has to be our basement now, not our ceiling. We need to learn from the little mistakes, build on the positives and make a strong run the rest of the season.”

The visitors gave the hosts everything they could handle through three quarters.

Republic held a 29-28 halftime advantage and the host Tigers led 49-43 at the end of the third period.

Republic won the fourth quarter 19-10 for the final margin.

“We threw some new wrinkles at Republic defensively tonight and it kept them off-balance after the first quarter,” Moore said. “I’m really happy with the girls buying into the defensive scheme and kept getting better as the game went on.” 

Lauren Choate scored 19 points to lead Carthage, while Kianna Yates added 17 and Maggie Boyd had eight.

“Lauren Choate and Kianna Yates carried us offensively tonight, but all the girls played with great energy on the offensive end,” Moore said. “We executed our game plan pretty well and had Republic on their heels defensively.”

Republic standout Kaemyn Bekemeier poured in 34 points. The Missouri State signee made 14 field goals, including four from beyond the arc.

“Republic has one of the best players in the state and it’s hard to contain her,” Moore said. “Bekemeier can hit the deep 3-pointer and then out-jump us in the paint for offensive rebounds. That’s where she did most of her damage tonight.”

Carthage (9-11, 1-3 COC) is at Class 5 No. 1 Carl Junction (19-1, 3-0 COC) on Tuesday night.

 

NIXA GIRLS 74, JOPLIN 18

NIXA, Mo. — Class 6 No. 7 Nixa held a double-digit lead after the first quarter and held Joplin to four points in the second half en route to the Central Ozark Conference win on Thursday.

Izzy Yust and Bailey Ledford each had six points to lead Joplin (3-16, 0-4 COC) in scoring.

Nixa (15-4, 2-1 COC) finished with four players in double figures. Laila Grant had a game-high 16, while Sadie Conway finished with 15. Lily Mahy had 12 and Karis Ferguson finished with 10.

Joplin is at Neosho on Monday.

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