By Anvil Welch
awelch@joplinglobe.com
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage had Mount Vernon hanging on the ropes and gasping for life after three quarters on Friday night.
There wasn’t any doubt, surely, after Dylan Samuelson’s last-second trey for the Tigers gave them a 42-28 advantage.
But there was a quarter remaining.
That was enough time for the Zack Kleine-led Mountaineers to hand the Tigers a 58-54 loss in the boys nonconference high school basketball game.
Kleine, a 6-foot-5 junior, scored 21 points in the final period to key the 30-12 assault by the Mountaineers.
Kleine, who had Mount Vernon’s 10 points in the third, finished with 37 and 18 free throws in a row to spice 19-of-21 accuracy at the foul line. He was scoreless in the opening eight minutes.
“They dominated us for three quarters,” Mount Vernon coach Skip Brock said. “Carthage defensively took Zack out of the game for nearly three quarters.
“Maybe our defensive pressure opened up the game a bit,” Brock said.
Said Carthage coach Steve Ray: “Mount Vernon was very good in that fourth quarter. We played great ball for three quarters.
“Kleine found ways to score,” Ray said. “No. 24 (Jackson Tettenhorst) also made some big free throws.”
Corey Phillips’ trey from the corner at 1:57 in the fourth actually gave Mount Vernon the lead for good at 49-48.
Kleine, following two missed throws by Carthage, added two free throws at 1:20 for a three-point lead.
Samuelson connected for the Tigers — just inside the arc — to draw them within one at 51-50 before Tettenhorst sank one free throw at the 35-second mark.
Kleine drilled two charities at 23.7, Tettenhorst a pair at 15.7 and Kleine two more at 6.8 to keep the Mountaineers ahead.
Samuelson, hitting 7-of-10 from long range, finished with 24 points. Trey Derryberry added 12 for the Tigers.
There was a subplot to this game as it is each time the teams play.
“It’s bittersweet,” Brock said of the win. “Steve Ray (a graduate of Mount Vernon) is one of the best players I’ve coached. He’s just like family. I feel bad for him.
“At the same time, of course, I’m happy for our guys. They could have folded the tent after that shot by Samuelson to end the third quarter. They’re competitors.”
Class 5 Carthage, its five-game winning streak snapped, fell to 5-2 entering today’s 2 p.m. makeup game at Springfield Hillcrest.
The Class 3 Mountaineers, coming off a fourth-place finish in the Gold Division of the Greenwood Blue and Gold Tournament, improved to 9-3. They open their Big 8 Conference schedule next Friday at Monett.
Said Ray: “Hopefully, it will be good to quickly get back onto the floor.”
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