Lady Tigers advance to tourney finals

Nevada girls' basketball team throttled Carthage 54-30 in the semifinals of the Carl Junction Girls' Tournament Thursday night, controlling each quarter.

"It was a great team effort," Nevada head coach Brent Bartlett said. "I really saw some great things out of us tonight."

Bartlett said he was happy with his team's offensive output.

"As a team we were well-balanced in scoring," he said. "It was just a good night for the Lady Tigers, I'm really excited with how we played."

Bartlett said his team has made some major strides through just three games.

"We set some tremendous screens tonight," he said. And overall we rebounded pretty well. Those are things I'm seeing improve."

Nevada will play in the finals against McDonald County, a 43-29 winner over the host Carl Junction team, Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Nevada took a 12-2 lead after eight minutes and expanded that to 22-9 by halftime.

The teams were more even in the third period, with NHS taking a 37-23 lead into the final frame. The Tigers finished strong, padding their lead further behind a 17-7 difference.

Mikayla Bartlett put in 16 points, Megan Payne 12, Rilie Good eight, Morgan McNeley seven, Madi Culbertson three and Jansen Miller, Megan Hold, Chloe Bartlett, and Renee Cox two each.

"Mikayla played phenomenal," Bartlett said. "Rilie and Morgan both played great. Megan is playing really well. The whole team stood out."