REPUBLIC — The Carthage girls are moving on in the Class 5 District 12 tournament after closing out a 47-34 win against Joplin on Saturday.
The Tigers (13-12) pushed a three-point lead in the first quarter to double digits by halftime. Carthage held the pace until Joplin made a late run in the fourth, only to see the Tigers answer with a run of their own to preserve the win.
"I thought it was a really good team win," Carthage coach Chad Jones said. "We had a lot of different people step up at different times of the game. … I thought everyone played together, shared the ball and stepped up the effort level."
The loss ends Joplin's season with a 2-22 record. The Eagles graduate seniors Grace Ipsen, Malia Mack, Dayleigh Smith and Matea Fowler.
Carthage held an 11-8 score after the first eight minutes and opened the second quarter with a 9-2 run to push the lead to double digits for the first time, 20-10, with 4:17 to play. Jaxsyn Anderson, who opened the third with a 3-pointer, sank her second triple of the quarter with 1:40 left to put Carthage up 25-12. She finished with nine points.
"I thought Jaxsyn played well," Jones said. "She has given us a nice lift off the bench this year and showed tonight what she is capable of."
With the Tigers holding onto a 38-26 advantage early in the fourth, Smith – who finished with a game-high 18 points – scored on three straight possessions for the Eagles to trim Joplin's deficit to 38-32 with 4:35 remaining.
"I appreciated that run because the girls have never acted defeated all year," Williams said. "They try to do the right things and everything that was asked of them."
Carthage responded in a big way, scoring nine unanswered to build a 15-point cushion on the way to the win.
"It was great for them to step up and respond," Jones said. "It shows everyone they still want to be playing basketball and they weren't going to let up."
Lexi Black, who — along with Sierrah Negrette — co-led Carthage in scoring with 10 points, highlighted the run with a pair of scoring drives.
Carthage takes on top-seeded Republic (18-8) at 6 p.m. on Monday in the next round of the district tournament.
-Lucas Davis, Joplin Globe Sports

(4) Carthage 47, (5) Joplin 34
Joplin            8     8      8    10 - 34
Carthage    11    15    10    11 - 47

Individual Scoring
Carthage: Black 10, Negrette 10, Anderson 9, Duncan 6, Peters 4, Brunnert 3, Kar. Crowe 3, R. Kabance 2
Joplin: Da. Smith 18, Farber 6, Eminger 4, Gage 2, Ipsen 2, Mack 2 3PFG: Anderson 2, Kar. Crowe