Tigers rough up Joplin at Carthage Invite

The Nevada Tigers varsity basketball team stormed back from an early deficit to hand Joplin High School a 60-43 defeat Thursday night at the Carthage Invitational.

Nevada is 2-1 overall (1-0 West Central Conference).

Trailing 13-4 after the first quarter, Nevada head basketball coach Shaun Gray switched up from a man-to-man to a 2-3 zone. The move worked as the Tigers outscored Joplin 19-8 in the second quarter to grab a 23-21 halftime lead. The Tigers completely turned the tables on Joplin in the third quarter, outscoring them 21-4 to take a commanding 44-25 lead entering the fourth quarter.

"Joplin has good athletes that were able to get open against our man defense," Gray said. "But they struggled to hit open shots against our zone.

"We did a better job of making it a half-court game."

For Nevada, point guard Matthew Sommer scored a game-high 21 points while center Clay Gayman added 18. Andy Heathman followed with 11, Patrick Ferry four, while Myles McNeley and Derek O'Dell finished with three apiece.

"The second and third quarters we outscored them 40-12," Gray said. "We were not being very tough in the first quarter. They responded well after that. It says a lot about their toughness after coming off a tough loss."

Up next

The Tigers face Carthage in the fifth-place game, Saturday at 1:30 p.m.