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Lady Tigers trump Carthage in season-opener
After a slow start, the Nevada Lady Tiger eighth-grade basketball team cranked up the tempo en route to a 38-26 season opening win over Carthage, Tuesday night at Nevada Middle School.
The eighth-grade Lady Tigers enter the season as a favorite to win the Tri-County Conference, as the same group finished last season 13-1, with its only loss coming to Webb City in the TCC championship game.
The TCC title matchup with Webb City in December was veteran coach Gail Wilson's final game on the sidelines, as she retired in May. The eighth-grade squad is now coached by Robert Miner.
Both Nevada and Carthage opened cold from the field. The Lady Tigers ended the first quarter on a 4-0 blitz, capped by a Kaylee Duncan 12-foot jumper to put Nevada on top 8-6.
"We had some first game jitters, not being able to hit a lot of baskets early on," Miner said.
The majority of the second quarter involved the teams trading barbs at the free throw line. Leading 17-13 midway through the third quarter, Nevada quickly increased its advantage courtesy of a Duncan steal and lay-in, followed by a pair of Allison Bower free throws to put NMS up by eight.
The lead later stretched to nine when Abby Harder in-bounded a pass to Duncan, who quickly passed back to Harder in the left corner, resulting in a 3-pointer as Nevada led 24-15.
Nevada opened up its largest lead of the game at 26-15 via a Bower steal and lay-up. Carthage then began to chip away, using a 6-0 run capped by a Hailey Fullerton mid-range jumper to trim its deficit to 26-21.
With its lead shrinking, Bower came to the rescue, swishing a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put Nevada back up by eight.
"Allison was very good tonight," Miner said. "When we run our KU (Jayhawk) sets, she's going to be at the top of the key and we want her taking the open shots. She knocked two of them down tonight, and both were big buckets."
With Fullerton spearheading the charge, Carthage reeled off five quick points, as they trailed 29-26 with 4:05 remaining in regulation.
Over the final four minutes of the contest, Nevada was strong with its three-quarter court press, as well as its free throw shooting, as NMS pulled away for the 12 point victory.
Despite a better second half performance from the free throw line, Miner said his squad needs to further improve in that area, as well as with its rebounding.
"We didn't have many offensive rebounds," he said. "And I don't think we made one free throw in the first half."
For Nevada, Bower dropped in a game-high 15 points, while knocking down 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. Duncan added eight; Tylin Heathman, six; Brinna Ream, five; and Harder, four.
Other action
Nevada's eighth-grade "B" team defeated Carthage 26-23. Meanwhile, the Nevada Lady Tigers seventh-grade "A" team prevailed over Carthage 9-7 in its season-opener, while the seventh-grade "B" team ended its game with Carthage in an 11-11 overtime tie.
For the Lady Tigers in the "A" game, Jerrica Collins scored a team-high five points, while Claire Pritchett added four. In the "B" game, Nevada's Ashley Mather led the way with four points, while Macy Cussimanio chipped in with three.