REPUBLIC, Mo. — The Lady Tigers traveled to Republic Thursday, Feb. 2 to face the #3 ranked Class 6 team. Carthage kept it close in the first three quarters, but Republic used the fourth quarter to pull away for good in the 68-53 Carthage Loss.
“I don’t say this much after losses, but I’m really proud of how our girls played tonight,” Carthage Coach Scott Moore said. “We played even with the #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.”
Lauren Choate led the Lady Tigers in scoring with 19 points followed closely by Kianna Yates’ 17.
“Lauren and Kianna carried us offensively tonight, but all the girls played with great energy on the offensive end,” added Moore. “We executed our game plan pretty well and had Republic on their heels defensively. Republic has one of the best players in the state and it’s hard to contain her. Bekemeier can hit the deep three and then out jump us in the paint for offensive rebounds. That’s where she did most of her damage tonight.”
Maggie Boyd finished with eight points for the Tigers and Landry Cochran had four points while Zye Clark added three points. Lexa Youngblood chipped in with two points to round out the scoring for Carthage.
“We threw some new wrinkles at Republic defensively tonight and it kept them off-balance after the first quarter,” said Moore. “I’m really happy with the girls buying into the defensive scheme and kept getting better as the game went on. This was probably one of our best games of the year. 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 positive and make a strong run the rest of the season.”
The Lady Tigers are 9-11 overall (1-3 in COC) and travel to Carl Junction for a super night with the boys basketball team Tuesday, Feb. 7.
