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Lebanon coach Kyle Paulson knew it would take a total team effort to take down Carthage on the road.
He got a sparkling performance from Jordan McGinnis and a solid defensive effort in the fourth quarter as Lebanon overcame a double-digit deficit to beat Carthage 72-65 Saturday at Carthage High School.
“It was a pretty good game,” Paulson quipped. “I think, you know, we’ve had other pretty good moments this year. We’ve been kind of up and down a little bit. And we’ve played some tough competition.
“I think the biggest thing is we’ve played some good basketball during the course of the season, but we just haven’t been able to put it all together. I don’t know if we put it all together tonight. We just got a lot of help from our bench a lot more than anything.”
McGinnis, clutch down the stretch, scored a game-high 22 points and fueled Lebanon’s fourth-quarter comeback.
Trailing by 12 points at one point in the third quarter, Lebanon began its assault on Carthage’s lead with a 12-5 to pull within four points heading into the fourth quarter.
“I thought they executed really well,” Carthage coach Steve Ray said. “We didn’t do a very good job, I guess, preparing them from the scouting report. So that’s something we’ve got to do a better job of.”
The Yellowjackets, who let an eight-point lead slip in the first half, tied the game at 64-64 when McGinnis knocked down his third 3-pointer of the game, thanks in large part to a pair of critical turnovers by the Tigers.
A bucket in transition by Will Cuffee gave Lebanon its first lead since early in the third quarter, which it never relinquished the rest of the way. Lebanon outscored Carthage 23-12 in the fourth quarter after the Tigers, who let a similar lead slip Tuesday against Branson on the road, scored 23 points in the third quarter to build their double-digit lead.
“The toughest team won tonight,” Ray said. “They played tougher than we did. We didn’t compete as hard as we need to compete, period.”
Keith Lawrie, Ethan Wiggin and Desmond Buerge each finished in double figures to help lead Carthage’s offensive attack. Lebanon, though, had 10 players figure into the scoring, while McGinnis and Cuffee finished in double figures.
“We’ve just got a bunch of guys that are real similar,” Paulson said, “and they can come in and they know their roles and they know their jobs. Offensively, we’ve got some guys who can come in and score and throw it in the basket. But I think more than anything I liked our defensive effort from all our guys coming in off the bench.”
Lawrie finished with a team-high 18 points — all of which came in the first three quarters. Wiggin, who knocked down a critical 3-pointer in the third quarter during a 9-0 run, scored 16 points and Buerge finished with 14 for the Tigers, who raced back after trailing 34-30 at the break.
The Tigers begin at two-game road set beginning at 6 p.m. Monday at Carl Junction.
To reach Cody Dyer, send e-mail to cdyer@carthagepress.com or call 417-358-2191.
Lebanon coach Kyle Paulson knew it would take a total team effort to take down Carthage on the road.
He got a sparkling performance from Jordan McGinnis and a solid defensive effort in the fourth quarter as Lebanon overcame a double-digit deficit to beat Carthage 72-65 Saturday at Carthage High School.
“It was a pretty good game,” Paulson quipped. “I think, you know, we’ve had other pretty good moments this year. We’ve been kind of up and down a little bit. And we’ve played some tough competition.
“I think the biggest thing is we’ve played some good basketball during the course of the season, but we just haven’t been able to put it all together. I don’t know if we put it all together tonight. We just got a lot of help from our bench a lot more than anything.”
McGinnis, clutch down the stretch, scored a game-high 22 points and fueled Lebanon’s fourth-quarter comeback.
Trailing by 12 points at one point in the third quarter, Lebanon began its assault on Carthage’s lead with a 12-5 to pull within four points heading into the fourth quarter.
“I thought they executed really well,” Carthage coach Steve Ray said. “We didn’t do a very good job, I guess, preparing them from the scouting report. So that’s something we’ve got to do a better job of.”
The Yellowjackets, who let an eight-point lead slip in the first half, tied the game at 64-64 when McGinnis knocked down his third 3-pointer of the game, thanks in large part to a pair of critical turnovers by the Tigers.
A bucket in transition by Will Cuffee gave Lebanon its first lead since early in the third quarter, which it never relinquished the rest of the way. Lebanon outscored Carthage 23-12 in the fourth quarter after the Tigers, who let a similar lead slip Tuesday against Branson on the road, scored 23 points in the third quarter to build their double-digit lead.
“The toughest team won tonight,” Ray said. “They played tougher than we did. We didn’t compete as hard as we need to compete, period.”
Keith Lawrie, Ethan Wiggin and Desmond Buerge each finished in double figures to help lead Carthage’s offensive attack. Lebanon, though, had 10 players figure into the scoring, while McGinnis and Cuffee finished in double figures.
“We’ve just got a bunch of guys that are real similar,” Paulson said, “and they can come in and they know their roles and they know their jobs. Offensively, we’ve got some guys who can come in and score and throw it in the basket. But I think more than anything I liked our defensive effort from all our guys coming in off the bench.”
Lawrie finished with a team-high 18 points — all of which came in the first three quarters. Wiggin, who knocked down a critical 3-pointer in the third quarter during a 9-0 run, scored 16 points and Buerge finished with 14 for the Tigers, who raced back after trailing 34-30 at the break.
The Tigers begin at two-game road set beginning at 6 p.m. Monday at Carl Junction.
To reach Cody Dyer, send e-mail to cdyer@carthagepress.com or call 417-358-2191.
