CARL JUNCTION — Carl Junction seemed to have an equalizer for each deficit it faced in the first three quarters.
The fourth? At that point, it was all Carthage.
A 17-6 run in the final period helped the Tigers put away the Bulldogs 60-46 in a Central Ozark Conference clash on Tuesday night at Carl Junction High School.
"I told our guys before the game that this one probably wasn't going to go according to script because COC games rarely do," Carthage coach Steve Ray said. "I was really proud of our guys, though. They really competed through it, and I thought they took off in the fourth quarter. That's a good sign for us."
The result marked a second consecutive victory for Carthage (9-4) and a fourth straight loss for Carl Junction (1-9).
The Tigers never trailed but saw leads of eight, six and seven points completely disappear before the start of the final period.
"We have one senior on the roster, so everything is a learning experience for us," Ray said. "For us, it's important to play with the lead. If we would have gotten down, I think that would have changed the momentum in the game quite a bit. But our guys really stuck with it and answered each time they threatened to go up on us."
An 8-0 run to open the fourth gave Carthage its first double-digit advantage with less than five minutes to go.
Carl Junction trimmed the deficit to seven points following back-to-back baskets by 6-foot-6 senior Trent Smith. But from there, the Tigers closed on a 9-2 run.
Carthage sophomore Patrick Carlton, a 6-foot-2 forward, paced his team's offense in the final eight minutes with eight points. He finished with 15 points while junior guard Taris Jackson logged a team-high 16 points with three makes from 3-point range.
"I thought Patrick Carlton was great tonight," Ray said. "He was just really active and only got better as the game progressed. But really, it was a lot of guys. Taris Jackson did a good job of running our team, and Alex Martini was a game-changer on both ends."
Martini's defensive presence was evident early as Carthage limited Carl Junction to just one field goal in the first five minutes of the game. But the 6-foot-7 junior had to be subbed out after he drew a third foul with 2:50 showing in the first. The Tigers then saw an 11-3 lead turn into a 14-14 tie by the early stages of the second quarter.
That was more than enough to prompt Ray to put Martini back on the floor.
"(Martini's) length, athleticism and basketball ability is huge for us on defense. So once they started to go on a run, we felt like it was worth the risk to put him back in there," Ray said.
After Martini re-entered, the Tigers went on a 12-6 surge to take a 26-20 lead into halftime. The Carthage big finished with 12 points and a game-high four blocks.
Smith led Carl Junction with a game-high 21 points while sophomore sharpshooter Isaac Hoberecht scored nine points on three triples.
Both teams hit the road on Friday, with Carthage playing at Nixa and Carl Junction playing at Republic.
-Jared Porter, Joplin Globe Sports

Carthage 60 Carl Junction 46
Carthage        14    12    17    17 - 60
Carl Junction    9    11    20      6 - 46
Individual Scoring (from Twitter @CarthageTigers)
Carthage: Jackson 16, Martini 14, Carlton 13, Huntley 7, Downing 6, Frisinger 2, Mueller 2. 
Carl Junction: Smith 21, Hoberecht 9, Henderson 7, Warren 3, Baker 2, M. Fox 2, Frazier 2. 
3PFG: Hoberecht 3, Jackson 3, Henderson, Huntley, Smith, Warren.

Carthage JV 68 Carl Junction JV 44
Carthage JV: Templeman 22, Gacke 16, Feurt 14, Frisinger 6, Gall 4, Clark 3, Pugh 3
Carl Junction JV: Derfelt 9, Corbin 8, Sims 8, Poorman 7, Lehman 6, Swarens 3, Williams
3 3PFG: Feurt 4, Derfelt 2, Clark, Pugh, Sims, Templeman, Williams

Carthage 9th 52 Carl Junction 9th 19 
Carthage 9th: Lilienkamp 14, C. Kabance 12, Lansford 12, Strickland 7, Pugh 6, Browning 1
Carl Junction 9th: C. Wilson 7, Cory 6, Diskin 2, Hefner 2, Perry 2
3PFG: Pugh 2, C. Wilson