CARTHAGE - Carthage trailed by as many as 14 points in the third quarter before making it a four-point game by the start of the fourth.But Ozark went on to dominate the final period and secure a 16-point victory in Friday's nightcap.
Carthage (7-16) scored 10 unanswered points to close the third quarter, only to see Ozark (16-7) open the fourth on a 14-4 run that was capped by a steal and two-handed dunk in transition by Kyle Flavin.
Ozark, which never held an advantage higher than six points in the first half, ended up leading by as many as 20 points in the final stanza.
"The key to playing with that Ozark team, which is very skilled and athletic and fast, is you have to compete for 32 minutes," Carthage coach Nate Morris said. "I think we did that even though the score says different. They do that to a lot of teams because they are just relentless. But our kids stayed with it and continued to fight till the end. The difference is we had a tough time finishing around the rim and they did not."
Ozark held an 18-16 lead at the end of the first quarter before taking a 31-27 advantage into halftime. Out of the break, Ozark opened the third period with a 13-2 run to go up 43-29.
A triple by Joel Pugh stopped the bleeding for Carthage and ultimately sparked the 10-point surge that saw Max Templeman score four points, Justin Ray two points and Sam Feurt one point.
"The third quarter has been Jekyll and Hyde for us," Morris said. "We've either been down at half and fought like crazy, or we've gotten in a hole in the third quarter and fought our way out of it. Tonight, they made a run early, and credit to our guys to keep fighting. It gave us a chance to win it in the fourth quarter, but that run they went on to start it was just too much to overcome."
Templeman paced the scoring for Carthage with 16 points. Ray added nine points and Pugh eight.
Ozark had four players score in double figures in Blaine Cline (20 points), Tyler Harmon (13), Ethan Whatley (12) and Flavin (11).
OZARK BOYS 65, CARTHAGE 49
-Jared Porter, Joplin Globe Sports
