CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — The Carl Junction Bulldogs couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start on the final night of January.
Ignited by hot early shooting and an intense pressure defense, Carl Junction scored the first 25 points of the game en route to a dominant 53-28 Central Ozark Conference girls basketball victory over Neosho on Monday night.
In the lopsided opening frame, the Bulldogs scored 18 unanswered points while pressuring the Wildcats into numerous turnovers.
“We came out strong and we’ve done that the last few games,” Bulldogs coach Brad Shorter said. “We’re really starting to click. I saw a lot of good things all the way around. We’re doing some things better. We’re defending better, we’re moving the ball better, we’re talking better and we’re rebounding better.”
During the sizzling start, Hali Shorter buried two early treys while Destiny Buerge hit a 3-pointer and made three layups, with two directly off steals.
While the Wildcats suffered through empty possession after empty possession, the Bulldogs continued to roll.
CJ’s Kylie Scott contributed a hoop in the paint and Ellie Lawson made one free throw for an 18-point cushion.
“I thought those 3s from Hali were big,” Coach Shorter said. “She’s capable of knocking quite a few down. We’ve been moving the ball better and we’ve been finding the hot shooter. Some nights it’s Kylie, some nights it’s Destiny, some nights it’s Klohe and some nights it’s Hali. That’s been good to see.”
Carl Junction scored the first seven points of the second quarter to make it 25-0.
Neosho received treys from Beclynn Garrett, Karlee Ellick and Raine Harris in the second quarter, but the visitors still trailed 30-9 at the break.
Neosho recorded two of the first three hoops of the second half, but the Bulldogs finished the third quarter on a 16-0 run to take a commanding 48-14 advantage into the final frame.
At the end of the late surge, Klohe Burk knocked down back-to-back corner 3-pointers and Dezi Williams scored in the lane off a nice feed from Isabel Reed.
Both coaches got their subs plenty of playing time in the fourth quarter.
With a fourth straight win, Carl Junction improved to 15-5 overall and 2-1 in the COC. The Bulldogs are ranked sixth in Class 5 by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association.
Shorter noted his team is playing well as the final month of the regular season arrives.
“Basketball is a long season,” Shorter said. “It’s up and down. Our kids know that. It takes a while for things to click and for kids to understand their roles and to know what we expect. I think we’re starting to click. We saw that tonight and we saw that at Glendale and even against Parkview. Now is our time to really show what we can do.”
A junior guard who recently picked up offers from both Pittsburg State and Texas-Rio Grande Valley, Buerge scored 15 points to lead the Bulldogs.
Burk added 10 points for Carl Junction, while Scott contributed nine points, Hali Shorter had six and Williams added five.
“I thought we got some great play off the bench from Anna Burch and Dezi Williams,” Shorter said. “That’s going to be big going forward for sure.”
Neosho slipped to 8-11 overall and 0-2 in conference action.
A freshman, Garrett scored 12 points with two 3-pointers to lead the Wildcats. Reagan McInturff and Harris chipped in five points apiece for Neosho.
Neosho hosts Republic on Tuesday, while Carl Junction is at Willard on Friday.
