OZARK, Mo. — The Class 5 top-ranked Carl Junction girls basketball team used a game-changing scoring surge in the second quarter to erase a deficit and build a lead, fueling a 51-28 win over Ozark in Central Ozark Conference action on Thursday.
Ozark (12-12, 5-3 COC) held the early momentum after taking a 13-8 lead into the second quarter before a 16-0 surge early in the period fueled the Bulldogs’ turnaround, with Carl Junction (24-1, 8-0 COC) holding an eight-point cushion by the intermission. The Bulldogs pushed the lead 20 for the first time in the third quarter and defensively stifled the Tigers down the stretch for the win.
Ozark scored the final five points of the first quarter on a pair of free throws by Alexis Solomon and a 3-pointer by Jordyn Foley and got the opening bucket of the second period to hold a seven-point lead over Carl Junction.
The Bulldogs responded with a momentum-flipping run, scoring 16 unanswered points to take a 24-15 advantage. Hali Shorter opened the run with a 3-pointer from the wing before Dezi Williams grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback. Klohe Burk added back to back buckets to give CJ the lead before Kylie Scott added a score in the paint. After a score from the low block by Destiny Buerge, DeShaye Buerge closed the run with a 3-ball from the corner with 1:09 left in the first half to build a nine-point cushion.
Burk, who scored 10 in the win, buried consecutive 3-pointers out of the halftime break to give the Bulldogs a 32-18 advantage at the 6:10 mark.
Destiny Buerge, who finished with a team-high 23 points, knocked down a corner 3-pointer and made a pair of shots from the charity stripe sandwiched around an inside basket from Jadyn Howard to give Carl Junction its first 20-point lead of the game, 44-24 with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.
Carl Junction limited Ozark to one field goal in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
The Bulldogs travel to Webb City on Monday to wrap their regular season.
OZARK BOYS 73, CARL JUNCTION 44
Ozark jumped out in front and never looked back in a Central Ozark Conference win over Carl Junction on Tuesday.
The Tigers (11-13, 4-3 COC) took a 15-point lead into the intermission and scored 16 unanswered at one point early in the second half to build an insurmountable lead over the Bulldogs (8-17, 1-7 COC) en route to the win.
Ozark got a 3-pointer from Hudson Roberts at the five-minute mark of the first quarter before Cohen George grabbed his own miss for a putback to give the Tigers a quarter-high eight-point lead, 13-4. Ethan Sutherland knocked down a 3-pointer late in the first for Ozark to carry that eight-point lead into the second period.
The Tigers methodically pushed the lead to double digits heading into halftime. Cohen added an inside score before Ozark sank a free throw to push the lead to a first-half high of 15 points, 30-15, with less than three minutes to play.
CJ’s Cooper Vediz sank a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 12 before Ryan Engel answered with a triple of his own to push the lead back to 15. Brody Plant knocked down a floater and drew contact for a three-point play with 1:35 left to make the score 33-21 before Sutherland knocked down his second 3-pointer to once again push the lead back to 15. CJ’s Wyatt McAfee and Ozark’s Jace Whatley traded baskets to hold the same cushion into the intermission.
Ozark put the game out of reach early in the second half after using a 16-0 run to build a 55-24 lead with less than four minutes left to play in the third quarter. Roberts highlighted the run with consecutive 3-pointers, while Garrett Ballard added a pair of baskets.
Carl Junction is at Webb City on Tuesday.
