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NHS boys have conference hopes crushed in Carthage
By Joe Warren
Nevada Daily Mail
CARTHAGE, Mo. -- Two stretches of more than six minutes without any offense doomed the Nevada Tigers Tuesday as they were knocked from the Southwest Conference hunt by the Carthage Tigers, 38-35.
Carthage (13-11 overall, 4-3 in the conference) played the role of spoiler well, avenging two earlier losses to Nevada (15-7, 4-2) this season.
Nevada went 8:28 without a single point in the second and third quarters, as Carthage went from being down 20-9, to being up 22-20.
The run included the final 4:20 of the first half, and continued into the second half.
Even with the dry spell, Nevada was in the game the entire time and they battled back to take a 35-32 lead with 6:08 to go in the game, but the lid went back on the basket and Nevada didn't score again the rest of the game.
The offensive futility was evidenced in the final scoring rundown, as no Nevada players reached double figures. Drew Weatherly led Nevada with nine points, while Bryan Campbell, who really struggled shooting the ball, finished with eight.
"It just wasn't Bryan's night, and it just wasn't our night," Nevada head coach John McNeley said.
Even with the rough offensive stretches, Nevada had two chances to tie the game in the final 20 seconds, but a pair of 3-point attempts by Campbell rimmed out.
Jordan Kerbs also had eight points, including arguably Nevada's most exciting three plays of the night.
Kerbs had a pair of old-fashioned 3-point plays, hitting spectacular shots after being fouled, then had a steal and layup in the first half that gave Nevada a 9-2 lead and prompted Carthage head coach Steve Ray to call a timeout.
But as a whole Nevada didn't play particularly well, as careless moments with the basketball and a few breakdowns defensively ended up costing them.
Carthage was able to make a small run late in the second period as a pair of turnovers led to transition buckets. Then in the third quarter Nevada started giving up the baseline, allowing Carthage star guard Jason Adams to drive and pull up for 12-foot jumpers, that he buried.
The breakdowns weren't often, and Nevada didn't really play that poorly, but considering what was on the line and how well the Tigers have performed this season during spurts, it was frustrating for McNeley.
"It's disappointing because we didn't play our best and you hate to see the opportunity we had taken away like this," he said.
The Tigers had a chance to tie for the conference title with three wins this week. But the loss to Carthage gives the championship outright to Webb City, which is 7-0 in the conference with one game to go.
Nevada really had trouble with Carthage on the glass.
The hosts outrebounded Nevada 29-15. Carthage's Kyle Wicklund really cleaned up, pulling down 11 boards.
Maybe the most costly stretch came in the second quarter when Nathan McGee missed a pair of free throws, but Wicklund got the rebound. Wicklund was the fouled and he hit one of two free throws, making the first and missing the second. After the miss, Adams got another offensive rebound and a putback, giving Carthage three points on a possession where they missed three of four at the line.
Nevada had beaten Carthage in two earlier meetings, 52-38 on Feb. 7, and 51-37 on Jan. 27.
Nevada has two regular season games left, both at home. The Tigers host Neosho Thursday, then finish the season with Webb City Friday.
A win in either of those games will give Nevada second place in the conference.