Following a 5-2 run by the Republic Tigers that extended their fourth quarter lead to four points, Carthage Lady Tigers head basketball coach Bobby Waggoner yelled out a simple command to his players — “We need a stop!”
And Sophomore Guard Kaylee Morgan responded. Fouled on a subsequent layup, she sank both shots from the line, cutting the lead to within a lone basket.
After Republic turned the ball over on a muffed pass, Morgan dashed through a crowd of black and orange and took it all the way in for a beautiful lay-up to knot the score at 41 apiece.
But that’s as close as Carthage would get to a win.
Twenty-two turnovers in the second half alone greatly contributed to a 55-45 loss Thursday at Carthage High School.
Waggoner said he was impressed with the play of his team. Despite the turnovers, Carthage was only down by four points with less than 40 seconds remaining. Taking advantage of those turnovers, along with a more aggressive man-to-man defense helped Republic overcome a 28-18 point halftime deficit.
It was a tale of two halves, really, as Carthage dominated in nearly every facet of the game in the first half, at one point piecing together a 20-4 run that ate up most of the second quarter.
In the second half, however, it was the Tigers from Republic, which dominated the boards, outscoring the Carthage Tigers by a combined score of 39-17, and ending the game on a 16-4 run.
Leading scorers for Carthage were Morgan, junior Andrew Westhoff — who was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line — and sophomore Hannah Blount, each finished in double figures.
Freshman Sarah Kreul paced the Republic Tigers with 15 points.
The Republic Tigers dominated Carthage in the earlier Junior Varsity game, with the blue and white falling 53-26.
