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Nevada Middle School basketball falls to Carthage
The Nevada Middle School seventh grade A and B teams competed against Carthage Monday evening with little success.
The B game got off to a slow start for Nevada as the Carthage defense dominated the game right from the outset. Lacey Stephens of Carthage came up with three shot blocks in the opening period alone and Nevada was unable to knock down a field goal, taking a 6-1 deficit to the second quarter.
The strong defense that opened the game continued through the remainder of the second half for Carthage as they held Nevada to just two points in the second quarter. The Carthage offense was unable to capitalize on the defensive efforts as poor shooting despite several very good looks in the paint continued to plague them.
Nevada's offense was simply unable to penetrate the strong Carthage defense and ended up taking a 12-3 deficit into the locker room at halftime.
The Nevada defense began to pick up early in the second half, but the offense couldn't seem to get many shots to fall. The Tigers ended up being outscored in the third period 6-2 and went into the fourth quarter down 18-5.
Both teams exhibited a very strong and aggressive defensive set in the final period and neither offense was able to get much going. Nevada was plagued once again by poor offensive decisions that allowed Carthage to come up with four steals in the final minute of the game on their way to a 25-9 victory.
The offensive effort in the game for Carthage was led by Kalyn Petty, who finished the game with 11 points. Nevada's offense was never able to get much going and Elizabeth Nowak finished out the contest scoring one third of Nevada's total points, with three.
The A game got off to a very similar start for both teams as Carthage was able to mount early defensive pressure and Nevada's offense struggled. Carthage was able to capitalize better on their defensive strength with very good inside looks and strong shooting as they took a 20-0 lead into the second period.
The strong defense that Carthage showed at the beginning of the game continued through the remainder of the half as Nevada scored their only field goal of the half with 4:02 to go in the second quarter. Poor offensive decisions by Nevada plagued them throughout the first half and Carthage took a 29-2 lead into the half.
The second half started a bit better for Nevada as they were finally able to start working their way around the Carthage defense and getting good looks in the paint. Poor rebounding seemed to be the thorn in the Tigers' side as they found themselves down 39-2 going into the final period.
Nevada's offense was never really able to get much of a recovery, putting up just four points in the fourth quarter on their way to a 43-7 defeat. Nevada was the only team to reach the charity stripe in the game and shot 40 percent.
The eighth graders were in action on the night as well, but those scores were unavailable at press time. Both the seventh and eighth grade teams will now enjoy a one-week break and are set to be in action again on Monday, Dec. 1, when they will square off against Joplin North.