Carlinville executes late, rallies to beat Carrollton
CARLINVILLE – A girls basketball coach can envision the level of execution they hope comes from their team when postseason arrives in February.
Carlinville coach Darrin DeNeve got to see it from his Cavaliers in the final week of November.
After surrendering a 10-point lead built in the game’s first four minutes, Carlinville rallied from a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat the Carrollton Hawks 48-43 in a nonconference game on Monday night at the Big House on West Main.
“We did all the things that you need to do,” DeNeve said. “We rebounded and we hit some free throws, took some time off the clock when we needed to and hit some shots early in the fourth quarter when we needed to get the lead. I told the girls, we played like a veteran team.”
The Cavaliers are a veteran team, despite the absence of a single senior on the roster. The entire lineup returns from a 14-15 finish last season and the victory over the Hawks gets Carlinville to 4-1. Carrollton is 3-3.
Early 3-pointers from Isabella Tiburzi and Braley Wiser launched the Cavies to a 10-0 lead. Wiser hit another 3 to put Carlinville up 15-6 after one quarter before the Hawks settled in.
Harper Darr knocked down back-to-back 3s and Lauren Flowers scored to get Carrollton within 15-14 before the second quarter was a minute old. The Cavaliers’ double-digit cushion was gone when Flowers converted a three-point play with 3:40 left in the first half to tie at 17-17.
Darr and Flowers, both juniors, continued to be a troublesome 1-2 punch for the Cavies. Darr’s third 3-pointer of the second quarter gave the Hawks a 20-17 lead. She finished with four 3s and 15 points and combined for 13 of their team's 14 field goals.
“She kind of shot us out of what we were trying to do,” DeNeve said of the 5-foot-10 Darr. “We changed defenses about five times, it seemed like, during the game. Finally, found something that worked. Sometimes, it’s just the mere act of changing defense that helps.”
Kaitlyn Reels’ 3 before the buzzer got Carlinville even at 22-22 at halftime, but the pendulum continued to swing Carrollton’s way in the third quarter. The 5-9 Flowers scored 12 – on three 3s and a three-point play - of her game-high 23 points in a third quarter that ended with the Hawks up 37-31.
“She is one heck of a player,” DeNeve said of Flowers. “We can’t be the only team that has a hard matchup with her. She’s physically strong, so it’s hard to put a small guard on her. By the same token, you can’t really put a post player on her either because she’s playing on the perimeter and hitting shots. And she’s such a good rebounder. She is definitely one of the better players on our schedule. It’s one of those deals where you hope to contain her in spurts and then go from there.”
After getting outscored 31-16 in the middle two quarters, Carlinville battled back. Baskets from Reels and Tiburzi in the opening minute of the fourth quarter sparked a rally slowed only temporarily by a Darr 3-pointer.
With Carrollton’s lead at five (40-35), the Cavies got baskets from Hannah Gibson and Jordyn Loveless before Wiser’s 3-pointer out of a timeout regained a lead for Carlinville at 42-40 with 3:34 remaining. Tiburzi’s short jumper in the lane capped a 9-0 Cavie run for a 44-40 lead.
A Megan Camden free throw and Flowers putback cut the Cavaliers’ lead to 44-43 with 1:41 left. But Carlinville ran offense for 77 seconds while the Hawks had to foul three times to get Loveless to the line, where she made both free throws to make the lead three with 24 seconds left.
Carrollton missed a 3 to tie and Gibson made two free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining to clinch the victory. The Cavaliers finished 8 of 8 at the foul line – all in the second half – and got 11 points from Tiburzi, 10 points from both Gibson and Reels, nine points off three 3s from Wiser and six points from Loveless.
“We got too comfortable defensively and lost track of a couple girls cutting,” Carrollton coach Brian Madson said of the Cavaliers’ 17-6 fourth-quarter surge. “Give Carlinville credit. They executed very well. They were patient. We got a little lead, but hats off to Carlinville. They made plays down the stretch, so give credit to them.”
