CARTHAGE, Mo. — Joplin High School senior Alissa Owens surpassed the 1,000-point career scoring mark Tuesday night, but that wasn’t enough as the Eagles fell 46-43 to the Carthage Tigers at Carthage High School.
Owens finished the basketball game with a team-high 15 points — all in the first half.
The Eagles (8-14) got on the board with an Adwen Barstow drive through the middle of the lane, but the Tigers answered with a short jumper from Zoe Williams.
After a Peyton Cunningham score and an Owens trey from the right corner, Joplin held a 7-2 lead, but Carthage’s Kaidence Stiles hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Tigers their first lead at 8-7 with 4:16 left.
After another Stiles score, Joplin’s Cunningham scored on a feed from Ava Wolf and the Eagles took the lead back off a Solei Parker drive to the rim that made it 11-10 with 2:56 left.
Carthage retook the lead with a pair of Williams free throws, but Cunningham also buried a pair from the stripe to make it 13-12 in favor of Joplin.
The Eagles went up by 5 off an Owens free throw and an Owens trey, but Halle Endicott trimmed the lead to 4 with a free throw.
Owens closed out the half with a jumper that gave the Eagles a 19-13 lead heading into the second quarter.
Owens surpassed the 1,000-point mark with a 3-pointer to open the second quarter. That sparked a 7-0 Eagle run that included a Barstow score and a putback by Wolf that gave the Eagles their largest lead of the game at 26-13 with six minutes left in the half.
Endicott stopped the bleeding for Carthage and ignited an 8-0 Tiger run that included a trey by Lynae Merrill off the bench and was capped off by a pair of Williams free throws that made it a 26-21 game with 3:54 left in the half.
Cunningham ended the Tigers run with a free throw, and Owens hit a trey from the top of the key as time expired to give the Eagles a 30-21 lead heading into the half.
Carthage (7-16) pared the lead to a single point after an 8-0 run to open the second half. The scoring spree started with an Endicott trey and was capped off by an Isamar Rodas 3-pointer at the 4:08 mark that made it a 1-point deficit for Carthage at 30-29.
Carthage head coach Scott Moore praised Rodas, his lone senior, after the senior night win.
“This was a great way to send out our senior, Isamar Rodas,” he said. “She had a great game last night against New Heights. She hit that big 3 in the third quarter as Joplin was trying to make a run. I was really proud of her shot confidence to knock that down.”
Joplin’s Ella Kroll got Joplin back on the board to make it a 32-29 game, but Endicott buried a trey at the 3:15 mark to to tie the game at 32.
Carthage took its first lead of the game since the first quarter with an Endicott drive to the basket that made it 36-34 with 2:28 left in the third period.
The Eagles retook the lead off a Kroll score in the paint that gave Joplin a 38-36 lead heading into the final period.
The Carthage defense held Joplin to just 5 points — all by Kroll — in the final frame.
A Williams free throw, followed by a Williams old-fashioned 3-pointer gave the lead back to Carthage at 40-38 with 3:10 left in the game. The Tigers stretched the lead to 4 with a Williams runner in the lane.
Back-to-back buckets by Kroll, including a transition score in the lane off a feed from Ava Dunlap, tied the game at 42 with 1:28 left.
A pair of Williams free throws put the Tigers back up at 44-42 with 42 seconds left. Kroll was fouled with nine ticks left on the clock. Her first shot hit inside the rim but bounced out. Her second attempt was good to make it a 44-43 game.
Williams made good on a pair of free throws in the final seconds to make it 46-43. Ava Wolf heaved a half court shot to the basket as time expired, but the shot bounced off the left side of the rim as the Tigers held on for the comeback win.
Moore talked about how the Tigers were able to hold Owens scoreless in the second half.
“They screen for her a lot,” Moore said. “So we stayed out of our man-to-man for the most part and tried to stay in our zone. That really kind of shut her down.”
Joplin head coach Brad Cox reflected on the Eagles’ loss.
“We let that one go. We didn’t do the things it takes to win a basketball game,” Cox said. “That one hurts.”
Williams, a freshman, claimed game-high honors with 20 points, including 10 in the decisive fourth quarter. Endicott, a sophomore, netted 14 (10 in the third frame) and Stiles, another freshman, finished with 8 points, all in the first quarter.
Williams scored several of her points driving the lane, despite her diminutive frame.
“We should call her Mighty Mouse for the rest of her career because I don’t know that she’s going to get much bigger,” Moore laughed. “But what she doesn’t have in size, height-wise, she has in heart. She does a great job of running the show for us early on in the game, and later on in the game, we put the ball in her hands to get us points as needed down the stretch.”
Owens led Joplin with 15 points. Kroll scored 11 — all in the second half — and Cunningham finished with 7, all in the first half.
Joplin hosts Willard High School on Thursday, while Carthage will travel to Republic High School on Thursday.