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Nevada girls defeat Carthage
By Eric Wade
Daily Mail Sports Editor
The Nevada Lady Tigers basketball team got a unique opportunity Friday night as head coach Brent Bartlett's squad found itself in a rematch against a team that had its way with Nevada in the third-place game of the 2013 Mercy Sportscare Carl Junction Classic tournament at Carl Junction High School. That team -- the Carthage Lady Tigers -- was given a much different look this time around, however, and the Lady Tigers ultimately got the revenge they sought.
"That's a good win," Lady Tigers head coach Brent Bartlett said. "We gave a tremendous effort."
In stark contrast to the first meeting, the Lady Tigers won Friday's matchup at Wynn Gymnasium soundly, by a final score of 58-45.
The first meeting between the two squads didn't feature nearly as much offense, as Carthage took the victory on that day by a final score of 35-24. The most significant difference, however, was the fact that the Carthage roster was substantially different early in the year from what it is now and the Lady Tigers' best player, Mikayla Bartlett, was still sidelined by a knee injury.
This time, not only was Mikayla back, but she was a major thorn in Carthage's side all night, on both ends of the floor. By the time all was said and done, she finished the night with 11 points and seven rebounds to go with her two steals.
"It's good to have Mikayla back in there," Bartlett said. "I'm proud of her."
In Mikayla's absence, the Lady Tigers' offense has mostly rested on the shoulders of 6-foot, 2-inch junior center Rilie Good. For the majority of the last two seasons, that has been a role Good has embraced and Friday was no exception as she led the Lady Tigers with 20 points and 10 rebounds, along with four blocked shots and a steal.
Rilie, I thought, had a great game.
As a team, the Lady Tigers finished the night with 38 rebounds -- 13 on the offensive end of the floor -- to go along with nine steals and Good's four blocks. By contrast, Carthage had just 26 total rebounds -- seven on the offensive end -- with eight steals and two blocks.
"Our defense, I thought, rebounded and competed," Bartlett said. "We competed hard tonight."
Everything wasn't all good for the Lady Tigers in the contest, however, as they opened the night with a lot of the same struggles that plagued them in the first matchup against Carthage. Turnovers were a major point of issue for Nevada in the contest's first 16 minutes.
In the opening half, the Lady Tigers committed a staggering eight turnovers, but still managed to go to the locker room up by five, at 29-24.
"We talked at halftime about taking better care of the ball," Bartlett said. "You know, cherish the basketball. That's an important thing."
That halftime conversation paid off in a big way for the Lady Tigers as they finished the second half with just three turnovers to bring their game total to 13. Carthage was nearly as good, as head coach Jim Moore's squad finished the second half with five, to bring its game total to 12.
Just as she did in the first meeting between the two teams, Carthage sophomore Maya Williams gave the Lady Tigers all sorts of trouble in Friday's contest. By the time all was said and done, Williams put up a game-high 22 points to lead all scorers, along with 13 rebounds.
Joining Williams in double figures was Emma Charleston, who finished the night with 11 points.
By the time the night came to an end, the Lady Tigers just had the two players in double figures, as well, but the number of players who contributed to Nevada's offense in the contest was equal to the total number of players who entered the contest for Carthage. Megan Payne was next on the list behind Good and Mikayla Bartlett, as she finished the night with eight points.
Morgan McNeley was right on her heels with seven, while Nikiya Feezell had six. Kelsey McCall and Chloe Bartlett rounded out the offense for Nevada with three apiece.
"Just a great team effort" Bartlett said. "We've built a great rivalry against Carthage and it's nice to pull that out."
Nevada's junior varsity squad was in action on the night as well, playing an abbreviated game against the Carthage JV. In that contest, head coach Jenny Allard's Lady Tigers had no trouble working their way out to a 10-4 lead after the opening period.
That lead quickly increased to 26-19 after the second quarter and though Carthage did make a bit of a comeback in the third and final frame, Nevada held on to take the victory by a final score of 26-19.
Next on the schedule for Nevada is Monday, when they head back out on the road to begin play in the 36th annual Clinton Girls' Basketball Tournament. The Lady Tigers are scheduled to open the tournament against Lebanon, at 6 p.m., at Clinton High School.