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Title games: Nevada-Carthage times two
By Joe Warren
Herald-Tribune
NEVADA, Mo. -- The Nevada Tigers took care of business on the boys' side and both Nevada and Carthage won in the girls' bracket to set up an all Southwestern Conference championship round of the Tiger and Lady Tiger Classics Saturday.
Nevada's boys won their pool by knocking off Kansas City's Renaissance Academy Warriors Friday night, 43-33, getting a strong effort from their defense and junior point guard Jordan Kerbs.
Kerbs scored a career-high 17 points, including three 3-pointers, and Nevada forced the Warriors into 16 first-half turnovers as they gained a double digit lead and controlled the contest throughout.
The Tigers scored the first four points of the game and never trailed, leading by seven after the first period and by as many as 17, before settling in for the 10-point victory.
Nevada got a balanced effort in the first half, as all five starters contributed to a 27-10 lead with 1:22 to go in the first half.
Renaissance used three consecutive Nevada turnovers to go on a 6-0 run to close the half, but it was the only stretch the quicker, more athletic Warriors were able to come unleashed.
The rest of the contest was dominated by Nevada's 2-3 matchup zone, which harassed the Academy into 21 total turnovers. Nevada's defenders did a good job keeping their hands in the passing lanes, and only allowed the Warriors to attack the seams on a handful of occasions.
"With the exception of the last minute of the first half, thought we played as close to how we wanted to play as we could," Nevada head coach John McNeley said.
McNeley said the gameplan was to rely on their defense to contest shots, keep the Warriors off the boards and slow the overall tempo of the contest.
With only a few exceptions, that's exactly what Nevada did.
Offensively it was Bryan Campbell carrying the way in the first half, with Kerbs doing most of his damage after the break.
Campbell scored all nine of his points in the first two quarters, giving him 1,105 points now in his career, moving him into seventh place on the all-time Tiger scoring list. Assistant coach Andy Smith is the man Campbell passed, as the 6-1 senior's 3-pointer in the first period got him by Smith's 1,098.
Meanwhile, Kerbs scored 13 in the second half, knocking down a pair of treys in the third period and adding another in the fourth.
"Jordan's such a solid player, and he keeps getting better," McNeley said. "He's a guy that probably needs to look at the basket more than he did in the past, coming into this game."
Nevada (9-5) would expand the lead to 15 in the third period, and didn't let Academy (7-6) closer than nine the entire second half.
Most of the final period was simply a clinic on ball movement, as Nevada was content to eat the clock, keeping the ball around the perimeter. Nevada only scored five in the fourth, and only allowed eight for the Warriors.
Kerbs was the only Tiger in double figures, as Drew Weatherly added six and James Tumm five for Nevada. Tumm also grabbed nine rebounds.
Dominique Johnson led Academy with 12, their only player in double figures.
The win made Nevada 2-0 in their pool and moved them into Saturday's championship game against Carthage, which won their pool by also going 2-0.
Academy played Girard Saturday for third place in the tournament.
NHS Girls 55, Lamar 50
Turnovers were the name of the game as the Nevada girls and Lamar battled it out in the semifinals of the Lady Tiger Classic.
Nevada (11-1) committed 22 miscues, while Lamar (4-7) had 27, in a game that was every bit as ugly as the numbers might suggest.
The Lady Tigers used a 10-0 run in the third period to gain control, then hit 11 out of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the deal.
Trailing 30-28 with five minutes to play in the third, senior Jordan Scotten hit a trey from the top of the key to start the run, then the 5-7 guard ignited the team emotionally with a couple of offensive rebounds and a steal.
Afton Baldwin scored four of her team-high 13 points during the third-period run, as Nevada took a 38-30 lead.
Lamar would use the 3-point arc to keep Nevada close in the final period, hitting four from outside, but Amanda Wilson went five-for-seven from the line down the stretch and Baldwin hit all four of her charity tosses in the quarter to secure the victory.
Lamar's Kayla Holland led all scorers with 17 points, and Miranda Maberry added 15, including three from downtown.
Nevada had a balanced effort, as Wilson joined Baldwin in double figures with 10, while Lindsay Rice scored nine and Jordan Webb had eight points to go with six rebounds.
"We had good, balanced scoring. I'm pleased to see that," Nevada head coach Brent Bartlett said.
Bartlett said the Lady Tigers are only playing well on one side of the court.
"We have good defense, but offense is hurting us in terms of taking care of the basketball."
Bartlett praised Scotten for helping the team get out of a funk in the third period.
"She hit a big shot, got a free throw, got some offensive rebounds and really gave us a boost," he said. "She was like instant energy."
Bartlett said the Tigers would need a better offensive performance to get by Carthage in the title game Saturday.
"We feel if we can take care of the basketball, and don't give up offensive rebounds, we're hard to beat," he said.
Carthage 53,
Pleasant Hill 44
Sophomore Denise Taylor scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Carthage Lady Tigers past the Pleasant Hill Chicks, in the only other tournament game Friday.
Katrina Westhoff and Ryann Hartley joined Taylor in double figures for Carthage, as they never trailed, but couldn't put the Chicks away until the end.
Lacey Stoppelman was a big reason Pleasant Hill stuck around, grabbing 18 rebounds -- 10 on the offensive end -- to go with her seven points.
Melissa Yount led the Chicks with 16 points, while Caley Capellan added 15, but Pleasant Hill was cold shooting from the field most of the game.
The Chicks really struggled with Taylor inside, who consistently scored regardless of who was defending her.
The win by Carthage set up a Carthage-Nevada championship doubleheader Saturday, the first time that's happened in the eight-year history of the two tournaments.