MONETT — Carthage opened the season on a high note with a 55-45 road win over Monett on Friday. 
Carthage held a 19-16 lead after the first quarter before extending the lead to 22-15 by the intermission. The Tigers' advantage remained at seven heading into the fourth quarter, where Carthage outscored the Cubs 13-10 down the stretch to preserve the win.
 "We are really proud of the fight and execution in stretches of the game that our guys showed tonight," Carthage coach Nathan Morris said to SoMo Sports. "You could definitely tell that this was our first game and that Monett had one under their belt already. We had a ton of 50/50 balls not go our way tonight at points when I thought we may pull away. Credit part of that to the grit of the Monett players and Coach Land—they are a tough bunch that will make some noise in the Big 8.
"I really thought our bench was the difference in the game. Logan Carmickle, Sylas Browning, Britt Coy and Clay Kinder were all great at different times in the win for us."
Joel Pugh led the way for the Tigers with 22 points, including three 3-pointers. Max Templman knocked down a pair of 3-balls on the way to 16 pints, while Justin Ray added nine points and Tyler Willis finished with four.
The Tigers host the 75th Carthage Invitational this weekend, kicking off the tournament with a 7 p.m. matchup against Fort Smith Southside on Thursday.
-SoMo Sports Staff Report

Carthage JV 49, Monett JV 23
Carthage 9th 40, Monett 9th 24