By Anvil Welch

awelch@joplinglobe.com

CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Aurora High School boys basketball team lived up to its No. 1 seeding at the expense of Joplin in the championship game of the Carthage Tournament on Saturday night.

Ryan Carmichael, a 6-foot-4 senior, scored 16 of his 33 points in the second period as Aurora defeated the third-seeded Eagles 70-52.

Seneca nudged McDonald County 44-41 for third place in the 62nd annual event.

Carthage beat Neosho 59-43 for fifth place and Monett trimmed Nevada 63-41 for seventh.

Said Aurora coach Darin Meinders: “We know we have a lot of things to improve, but this is a good way to start the season. I thought we did a great job with our defensive pressure considering we were playing on back-to-back nights.”

Said Joplin coach Tim Spiers: “They were aggressive on defense. They also did a good job attacking us.

“Aurora did a good job of getting to the foul line,” Spiers said. “They were 25-of-28 from the line to our 5-of-12.

“Two big keys were their offensive rebounding and our 18 turnovers,” Spiers said.

“I was proud of our effort. I thought we became a little tired,” Spiers said.

Carmichael hit from all angles in the second quarter in sparking Aurora to a 37-24 halftime lead. He added a 12-point fourth quarter keyed by 8-of-8 accuracy from the charity stripe.

“Whatever it takes to win,” Meinders said. “This is an unselfish group.”

Kaleb Roy, 6-1 senior whose specialty is a 3 from the corner, connected for three 3s in netting 11 and 6-2 classmate Devin Hillman tallied nine.

Defending champion Joplin received 17 points from 6-4 junior Matt McCreary and 10 from 6-6 junior Phillip Davis.