In the game’s closing seconds, Sydney Peters stepped to the free throw line.
The Carthage senior made her first free throw … and then the buzzer sounded.
Peters never got a chance to take the second shot, not with a running mercy clock finally hitting zero to make the Tigers’ 52-15 win against Joplin official.
Carthage thoroughly dominated the Eagles on Thursday night in the consolation round of the Carthage Lady Tigers Basketball Invitational. The fifth-seeded Tigers earned a spot in Saturday’s fifth-place game, which tips off at 2 p.m. in the auxiliary gymnasium. They’ll face either (7) Hillcrest or (6) Lamar, who play in the other consolation semifinal on Friday night.
“That’s the kind of team we can beat if we can sustain effort over that long of a game, play four quarters like that.” Carthage coach Chad Jones said, describing his post-game speech. “Just continue to keep the intensity regardless of what the scoreboard says.”
Joplin, the eighth seed in the tournament, led for all of 26 seconds against Carthage. Senior Sierrah Negrette gave the Tigers the lead with 4:44 remaining in the first quarter and scored six in the period to help Carthage take a 12-4 lead. Senior Mia Duncan added two steals and easy layups.
The pair added baskets early in the second quarter to make it a double-digit game. When Senior Jaxsyn Anderson grabbed an offensive rebound and scored at the 3:24 mark, Carthage led 20-5. The Tigers would lead 24-8 at halftime, with Joplin having twice as many turnovers as points.
Joplin finished the game with around 25 turnovers. Many of them were a result of Carthage’s 2-3 zone defense, which the Tigers employed for the whole first half, and some “three-quarter court” pressure.
“The athletes were excited for this game because they knew it was an opportunity to play that kind of defense,” Jones said. “They like to get up and down the floor and pressure. I thought it was a good opportunity for everybody on the bench too to be ready to come in and sustain that intensity.”
Senior Karley Crowe added three three-point baskets in the second half, the first of which made it a 20-point game with 4:45 left in the third. Joplin made just one field goal in the quarter, with 5:16 on the clock, and made just four free throws after that. Carthage led 34-15 after three.
The lead grew to 25 on a Negrette basket with 4:27 remaining in the game. Senior Riley Kabance made a three pointer with 2:42 on the clock that extended it to 31 and started a running clock.
Negrette led the Tigers with 14 points and Crowe scored 11 – all in the second half. Duncan and sophomore Hailey Fullerton scored eight apiece, senior Jillian Brunnert and Kabance each scored three, junior Karlee Kinder and Anderson each scored two, and Peters had one.
Joplin was led by Dayleigh Smith’s eight points.
The Eagles will play the Hillcrest/Lamar loser at 11 a.m. Saturday in the seventh-place game.
Top-seeded Strafford, which demolished Joplin 94-15 in the first round, blew out fourth seed Springdale Har-Ber 72-40 in a semifinal game Thursday night. Second seed Mount Vernon and third seed West Plains will play in the other semifinal on Friday night.
Boys tournament update
There were two games on Thursday in the 72nd Carthage Boys Basketball Invitational. In the consolation bracket, sixth seed Seneca won 61-43 over seventh seed Neosho to advance to Saturday’s fifth-place game. Seneca will face the winner of Carthage vs Belton (6 p.m. Friday). The loser plays Neosho at 12:30 p.m. Saturday for seventh place.
In the championship bracket, third seed Rogers, Ark. pulled a minor upset in beating second seed Nevada 49-47 in a semifinal.
With a two-point lead, Rogers missed two free throws in the final seconds, but Nevada’s Matthew Thompson couldn’t connect on a long three pointer at the buzzer.
Drew Miller scored 16 for Rogers and Derek Hobs added 10.
Nevada’s loss means there won’t be a championship rematch. Joplin beat Nevada 62-58 to win last year’s tournament.
The top-seeded Eagles, who beat Carthage 76-41 on Tuesday, will play fourth seed West Plains in a semifinal on Friday night.
