Bennett, turnovers topple Tigers in Carthage

By Joe Warren

Herald-Tribune

CARTHAGE, Mo. -- Paden Bennett scored 31 points and Nevada committed 10 turnovers in the second quarter alone Friday as the Carl Junction Bulldogs ran away with the Carthage Invitational championship for the second straight year.

The Bulldogs topped the Tigers 66-50, in a title game rematch from last season.

Bennett went up, over and around Tiger defenders all game and Nevada had trouble taking care of the basketball.

"The thing that frustrates you about it is we were just not being smart with the basketball," Nevada head coach John McNeley said. "I really wasn't pleased at all with how we passed the basketball."

The Tigers had a season-high 22 turnovers in the game as Carl Junction's aggressive, slap-happy defense harassed Nevada ball handlers all game. The high pressure eventually led to sloppy passing that the Bulldogs turned into extra possessions.

"I thought we played into their hands a little bit," McNeley said. "I thought we were intimidated at times and we really didn't need to be. Sure they are good, but they're not that good."

Bennett was out of his head for most of the game, dominating with his slashing style and superior leaping ability to convert a flurry of layups and mid-range jumpers. The 6-1 junior had 17 points by halftime and 25 going into the final period.

"He's amazing as an intermediate shooter," McNeley said of Bennett. "He just doesn't miss many at all and you can't bother him because he elevates so well."

The Tigers started the game looking as if this might be their turn to get over the hump against a Carl Junction team that has now beaten them three times in the past two seasons.

Drew Weatherly was sharp from the perimeter and Nevada played focused, intense ball for the first period and a half.

Nevada built a 14-9 lead with 2:23 to play in the opening quarter after a 3-point play by James Tumm.

But Bennett kept Carl Junction in the game by himself, scoring nine of his 31, and the Bulldogs closed the period with an 8-2 run to take a 17-16 lead after one.

Weatherly hit his second and third treys of the game early in the second quarter, as Nevada led 19-17 and 22-20.

"I like the approach we took," McNeley said. "We got off to a good start and did some decent things."

But Weatherly's third from downtown was his final points of the game, and then Nevada got careless with their passes and Carl Junction closed the first half with a 13-3 effort.

Bennett scored eight of the 13 points, with Joseph Fauvergue adding a triple of his own during what turned out to be the decisive run.

The Bulldogs led 33-25 at halftime and Nevada trailed by double digits for most of the second half.

Tumm was Nevada's lone bright spot after the intermission, scoring 12 of his team-high 15 points -- most from passes by Bryan Campbell when the Tigers had broken the Carl Junction full-court press.

Campbell was the only other Tiger in double figures with 11.

Steven Tackett had 12 for Carl Junction (5-3) and Fauvergue poured in 10 (nine of them on a trio of 3-pointers). Those two had dominated Nevada (6-3) for 45 points on Dec. 5 in a regular season meeting between the schools. Carl Junction won that game 64-54.

After the game McNeley said he could still see some major areas of improvement for his squad. One of them was defensive rebounding. Carl Junction had seven offensive rebounds in the first half alone, while Nevada had seven total boards before the break.

"We are really having trouble putting everything together defensively," McNeley said. "It seems like we're moving from one focal point to the next, sometimes to the detriment of the previous point.

"The one thing we have got to do is get to where we do a better job of blocking out. If you look at one specific area that was lacking (Friday) it's the defensive rebounding."

In other tournament action it was Joplin taking third place with a come-from-behind win over Seneca.

One night after blowing a 13-point fourth quarter lead in a loss to Nevada, the Eagles reversed their fortunes by overcoming a 12-point second-half deficit to force overtime against Seneca, eventually winning 61-59.

Carthage beat Monett in the fifth-place game 48-36, and Aurora bested McDonald County 50-38 for seventh.

Nevada is now off for 13 days before hosting Pleasant Hill Jan. 4.