By Brock Sisney (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
CARL JUNCTION — In a proverbial dogfight all game Thursday against their arch rival Webb City for the Class 5 District 12 title, the Carl Junction Lady Bulldogs made more plays and more shots, especially free throws, down the stretch to come away with a 55-52 victory and their sixth consecutive district championship, their fourth straight against Webb City.
Free throws played a major factor in deciding the outcome Thursday, since Carl Junction doubled up Webb City in made free throws (22-11) and shot more than 28 percent better from the stripe than their rival (78.6-50.0). The Lady Bulldogs alone made 16-19 (84.2 percent) free throws after halftime, definitely a clip for winning basketball games, especially close ones.
“I told the girls the last two days at practice that it’s going to be a one- or two-possession game,” Carl Junction head coach Brad Shorter said. “I had a really strong feeling about that. We were able to get up on them early, I had a feeling they weren’t going to press us, and that was the big key the first time we played them, we were able to get out in transition and score (Carl Junction beat Webb City 76-50 on Feb. 13). We took some big shots on the chin (Thursday), were able to fight, and I’m really proud of our girls. They came out and played really well second half.”
Carl Junction sophomore Destiny Buerge poured in a game-high 35 points, including her team’s first 14 of the evening, and finished with a double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds. She finished 15-20 on the night at the line and her aggressiveness offensively contributed to fouling out Webb City defenders Peyton Hawkins and Sierra Kimbrough before it was over.
Sophomore guard Hali Shorter netted 13 of her 15 points in the second half and she provided Carl Junction with a legitimate second option offensively after halftime.
“She’s a competitor,” Shorter said of Buerge. “She did a good job of fighting through it and her arm’s pretty sore right now. I think she hyperextended her elbow, luckily it was her left elbow. A great player and we had some kids step up there late. Hali hit some really big shots and key free throws, and so did Klohe (Burk). Probably the piece that was important was how well Ellie Lawson and Hannah Lee played, Hannah rebounding the basketball and Ellie moving the basketball and setting good screens to get some kids open. Those things get lost sometimes, but, boy, you’ve got to have them.”
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Carl Junction takes a 17-8 overall record into a Class 5 sectional game Wednesday against McDonald County (13-14). The Lady Mustangs earned their first district title since 2015 with a 51-49 victory Thursday night over Rogersville.
“It’s been a season for us where we want to try to progress and get better at fundamentals and skills,” Shorter said. “Last couple days, we’ve worked on a jump ball possession just because we knew that it could come down to one possession and some inbound plays that proved to pay off for us.”
Carl Junction rolled 60-24 over McDonald County on Jan. 4 and also defeated the Lady Mustangs 53-22 on Dec. 11.
Webb City senior Jaydee Duda led the Lady Cardinals with 15 points and her banked-in 3-point basket at the third quarter buzzer gave Webb City a 37-36 lead entering the fourth. Kimbrough added 11 points and sophomore Kate Brownfield produced her own double-double with 10 points (all in the second half) and 10 rebounds.
“I thought our girls played hard,” Webb City head coach Lance Robbins said. “I told them in the locker room coming out there’s nothing to hang their heads about. I thought they competed very well tonight for four quarters. I was just proud of their effort overall.”
Webb City’s season ended at 9-15 overall and the Lady Cardinals started playing their best basketball at the end of a challenging season.
“I think it tells me they never gave up, they never quit,” Robbins said. “We’ve faced a lot of adversity this year, but we’ve had several issues from the start until the end, injuries and different things off the court that we’ve dealt with, our girls have had different lineups and they’ve stuck hard to competing hard every time they’ve stepped on the floor. The last three games, they played their tails off and sometimes, the other team just makes more plays than you do.”
The game Thursday night included eight tie scores and 12 lead changes, two more numbers reflective of a tight game all the way.
Webb City owned the game’s biggest lead at nine points about halfway through the third quarter, while Carl Junction’s biggest lead came only 2:27 in after Buerge’s first four points.
Webb City took a 25-20 halftime lead by outscoring Carl Junction 18-12 in the second quarter, including 9-4 the rest of the way after Hali Shorter’s first points earned a 16-all score with about two minutes remaining in the half.
Carl Junction chipped away on a nine-point deficit in the third and Shorter’s 3-point goal late in the quarter gave the Lady Bulldogs their first lead since 14-11 early in the second quarter. The Lady Bulldogs’ lead did not last very long, with Duda’s 3-point theatrics at the buzzer.
The teams exchanged punches and counter punches in the fourth like a pair of champion boxers and the game hanged in the balance until the final buzzer.
Nearing the final minute of regulation, with a 47-all score, Buerge came through with a momentum-changing play. She came down with the deflection in the lane after Webb City blocked Burk’s 3-point shot and Buerge went back up for the basket and the foul. Buerge made her free throw and Carl Junction would lead by no more than four and no less than two the final minute.
Webb City could not get off one final 3-point shot and Carl Junction survived to fight another day and play at least one more game.
