Lady Panthers place second in Lady Lion Invitational

The Mountain Grove Lady Panthers’ basketball team was hoping the third time would be a charm as they matched up with Springfield Catholic in the finals of the Mansfield Lady Lion Invitational for the third year in a row.
Unfortunately, they would find themselves trailing through most of the four quarters in a 54-43 loss, though they did take home the second place hardware.
In the first quarter, the Lady Panthers trailed early before Stella Benson hit a pair of a 3-pointers for a 9-7 lead.
Springfield Catholic responded with a 6-0 run and led by two entering the second quarter.
Trailing by six at the break, Springfield Catholic pushed their run to seven straight to take a 37-24 advantage.
They got the lead to 15 before the Lady Panthers went on a run in the fourth with the help of a Benson’s 3-pointer and Sadie Schober’s four points.
Mountain Grove did cut the lead to six with 1:02 left before Springfield Catholic pulled away for the 11-point victory.
Benson, an All-Tournament selection, made four, 3-pointers and finished with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal.
Schober, another All-Tournament choice, added 17 points and one rebound.
Marli Melton added four points and four rebounds; Kaylee Virtue had four points, eight rebounds, three assists and one steal; while Briley Curtiss tallied five rebounds and one assist.
In the semifinals, the Lady Panthers held off Fordland in a not-so-pretty contest, 27-19.
Mountain Grove trailed 10-7 at halftime after they were shutout in the second quarter.
They responded with an 18-7 run in the third quarter with the help of Benson’s seven points and six from Schober.
Schober finished the game with 11 points; Benson had seven; Virtue five; and Melton four.
In the opening round against Niangua, the Lady Panthers jumped out to a 20-0 first quarter lead and never looked back in a 44-point victory, 74-30.
Benson finished with 21 points; Virtue had 20; Melton added 10; Schober had nine; Bailey White had eight; and Cassidy Behrendsen scored six points.

Mountain Grove JV
The JV Lady Panthers were the No. 8 seed in the varsity tournament and dropped all three of their contests.
In the opening round, the JV fell to eventual champion Springfield Catholic, 69-37.
Belle Garner led the team with 17 points; Adrienne Bradshaw had seven; Brixley Williams and Nyelli Soto had five points; and Leah Broome scored three.
The JV Lady Panthers had Conway on the brink of a loss in the Consolation semifinals as they outscored the Lady Bears, 15-9, in the third quarter and trailed by just two points entering the fourth quarter.
Conway would pull away late though for a 49-38 win.
Garner paced Mountain Grove with 21 points; Soto had seven; Bradshaw and Williams had three; while Emily Jarrett and Broome scored two points.
In the seventh place contest, the JV team was down just two points entering the final frame before falling, 48-41, to Niangua.
Garner led the Lady Panthers with 18; Broome had 10; Williams added nine; and Jarrett had. Four.