CARTHAGE BOYS 65, MONETT 34
MONETT, Mo. — A strong second half propelled the Carthage High School boys basketball team to a 65-34 victory over Monett on Friday night in the opener of the 2023-24 season.
Up 29-20 at halftime, Carthage pulled away for good by outscoring the Cubs 23-7 in the third period for a comfortable 52-27 lead.
The Tigers allowed just 14 second half points en route to victory No. 1 of the season.
Senior guard Justin Ray scored 21 points and hit three 3-pointers to lead Carthage, while sophomore guard Landon Ray added 11 points and junior forward Kruz Castor contributed 10 to give CHS three players in double figures.
Two others scored eight points apiece for the Tigers — Dylan Pugh and Taylor Stevens-Diggs.
Landyn Brandt scored 22 points to lead Monett (0-1).
The Tigers (1-0) will host the annual Carthage Invitational beginning on Dec. 7.
JOPLIN GIRLS 37, PITTSBURG 27
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Joplin limited Pittsburg to single digit scoring in the first three quarters on the way to the Eagles’ first win of the season on Friday.
Joplin held a 13-8 advantage at halftime before outscoring the Purple Dragons 24-19 in the second half.
“It was a really good win for the first win of the season,” Joplin coach Brad Cox said. “Our girls played extremely hard and we won it on the defensive end of the floor. They made a run in the middle of the third quarter, but we responded very well. That is a very big step for us from last year.”
Riley Kelly finished with nine points to lead Joplin, while Bailey Owens finished with eight. Aiyana Kroll closed with six and Alissa Owens had four.
Joplin hosts the Freeman Lady Eagle Classic, which kicks off on Thursday.
CARTHAGE GIRLS 55, OLATHE EAST 47
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage earned a consolation win over Olathe East on Friday and will play for fifth place on Saturday to wrap up its play as the host of the Lady Tigers Invitational.
The Tigers (1-1) jumped out to a 15-8 lead after the first period before the Hawks rallied in the second period to hold a 22-21 advantage by the intermission.
Carthage went to work from the free-throw line in the second half to regain control. The Tigers sank 8-of-10 shots from the charity stripe in the third quarter—building a five-point lead, 36-31, by the end of the third quarter. The Tigers continued to have success from the foul line in the fourth quarter, knocking down 9-of-10 shots to help stave off the Hawks.
“It was great to see our team firing on all cylinders tonight,” Carthage coach Scott Moore said. “We still aren’t hitting as many 3s as I’d like, but I was proud of our girls for attacking the paint and getting buckets inside the second half. We shot really well from the free-throw line, which helped us keep our lead late in the game.”
Lauren Choate finished the game with a team-high 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to lead all scorers, while Maggie Boyd finished right behind with 15, nine of which came from the stripe. Lexa Youngblood also finished in double-figure scoring with 13 points with five makes from the free-throw line. Jaidyn Brunnert sank two 3-pointers on the way to eight points.
“We had great, balanced scoring tonight too which makes us hard to guard,” Moore said. “We had three players in double figures and one player with eight. If we can get that production on a nightly basis, we will be a fun team to watch and a hard team to defend.”
Carthage takes on Sunrise Christian in the fifth-place game at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
SUNRISE CHRISTIAN GIRLS 47, WEBB CITY 42
CARTHAGE, Mo. — A close one slipped away from the Webb City girls basketball team on Friday afternoon.
Sunrise Christian Academy finished strong and defeated Webb City 47-42 in the consolation semifinals of the Lady Tigers Invitational inside the CHS Gymnasium.
Sunrise Christian led 11-6 at the end of the first quarter and the Cardinals trailed 20-17 at halftime.
After winning the third quarter 14-10, Webb City took a 31-30 lead into the fourth quarter.
But Sunrise Christian won the final frame 17-11.
Webb City was down by just one with 3:25 remaining, but Sunrise Christian scored seven of the final 10 points of the contest to secure the close win.
Junior guard Kirra Long led Webb City with 16 points and senior guard Malorie Stanley added 11 points with a trio of 3-pointers. Freshman forward Addie Burns contributed five points in the setback.
Webb City (0-2) will take on Olathe East for seventh place at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
PITTSBURG BOYS 66, JOPLIN 50
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Joplin took a three-point lead into the intermission before being outscored 41-22 in the second half en route to a road loss against Pittsburg, Kansas, on Friday.
The Eagles went into halftime on top 28-25 before the Purple Dragons outdueled JHS 20-12 in the third and 21-10 in the final eight minutes to secure the win.
“The first half I thought we did a nice job of making it difficult for Pittsburg, while being efficient on offense,” first-year Joplin coach Nick Pfeifer said. “The second half, we got off to a decent start but then we put them on the line way too much while not getting clean looks on the offensive end. Against good teams and good players, it has to be four good quarters instead of two and half.”
Hobbs Gooch led Joplin in scoring with 14 points, while Whit Hafer finished with 10 points. Brecken Green and Fred Taylor each with seven points in the loss. The Eagles had nine players score.
Pittsburg was led in scoring by Mason English’s game-high 35 points on two 3-pointers. Joey Cronister finished with nine points and Nate Mitchell had eight.
Joplin is in action next in the 77th Carthage Invitational basketball tournament on Dec. 7.
FRONTENAC BOYS 52, NEVADA 50 (OT)
NEVADA, Mo. — The visiting Frontenac Raiders outscored the Nevada Tigers 11-9 in overtime to earn a non-conference victory on Friday night.
Frontenac led 22-20 at halftime and Nevada was up 33-31 entering the fourth quarter. The game was deadlocked at 41 at the end of regulation.
Jack Cheaney scored 13 points to lead Nevada, while Brice Budd, Gabe Smith and Kellen Braden all contributed nine points apiece.
Trey Cramer scored 17 points to lead the Raiders and Kaden Gatewood O’Bray added 12.
Nevada (1-1) is at Pittsburg, Kansas, on Tuesday night.
