By Anvil Welch

awelch@joplinglobe.com

CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Joplin High School boys basketball team, thanks to controlling the fourth quarter, were rewarded handsomely on Saturday night.

Second-seeded Joplin won the 61st Carthage Tournament by beating fifth-seeded Aurora 62-54.

The Eagles, outscoring the Houn’ Dawgs 7-1 in the first two minutes of the fourth, built a 12-point lead at 51-39 and held off the determined Houn’ Dawgs.

Nevada, fueled by senior guard Jordan Kerbs’ 28 points, beat McDonald County 49-44 for third place in a clash of Southwest Conference teams.

The Big 8 Conference bested the Southwest In earlier games.

Monett outlasted Carthage 60-54 in overtime for consolation and Seneca defeated Neosho 46-35 for seventh place.

Monett, beating the Tigers for the second time this season, survived a 35-point salvo by 6-foot-5 senior Jason Adams. The Cubs almost had an individual answer as 6-2 junior Kirk Moore poured in 26.

Aurora, which trailed 26-19 at the half, rallied in the third to take a 37-36 lead late in the period.

But Joplin answered in the fourth behind a balanced attack to go on its decisive surge in the foul-plagued contest.

“We played pretty well,” Joplin coach Tim Spiers said. “It was a physical game.

“Sure, we made some mistakes against their defensive pressure,” Spiers said. “But we were able to have some success with layups off the backside of their press. Hopefully, we were able to capitalize more than Aurora.

“We got a great game from (6-foot-1 senior) Scott Williams,” Spiers said. “He played solid defense, hit four clutch free throws in a row in the fourth quarter and had a big 3 in the first quarter.

“Scott was a scoring leader with 17 points. Phillip Davis (6-6 sophomore), with senior Harrison Menke in foul trouble, responded with 11 points,” Spiers said.