Mountain Grove Lady Panthers get big win at Norwood

A couple of Wright County heavyweights slugged it out on the basketball court recently when the Norwood Lady Pirates hosted the Mountain Grove Lady Panthers as both squads entered the contest with six wins.
It was just a two-point contest at halftime before the Lady Panthers pulled away late for a 53-42 victory.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first quarter as they combined to make just 8-of-30 shots from the field.
The Lady Pirates opened with a 4-0 lead before the Lady Panthers responded at the end of the quarter with a 6-0 run behind Stella Benson’s 3-pointer and Raylee Stenzel’s three-point play. Stenzel scored eight points in the opening frame.
Norwood’s offensive woes continued in the second quarter as they made just 4-of-15 shots from the field again.
Kalie Caldwell had missed her first five shots before a 3-pointer gave the Lady Pirates the 13-11 edge.
Jaycee Hall came off the bench for Norwood and made a 3-pointer to break a tied score.
Stenzel scored five points in the second quarter to help keep the Lady Panthers’ edge at 20-18.
Benson’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to six early in the third quarter when Addy Gray answered with a 3-pointer during a 5-0 run for Norwood.
Late in the quarter, an official called a technical foul on Gentry Davault.
A quick five-point swing put Mountain Grove in front 34-29 heading into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Panthers made 5-of-8 shots from the field as Stenzel scored eight points and Benson had seven to help the Lady Panthers pull away for a nine-point win.
Stenzel led the Lady Panthers with 23 points and 10 rebounds; Benson added 14 points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal; Sadie Schober added 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals; and Landry Golden tallied five points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Gray tallied 13 points and two rebounds; Chadwell added eight points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks; Gentry Davault added six points, seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal; Quinncy Vestal had four points and two rebounds; Hall had three points, one rebound and one steal; and Autumn Gunter scored two points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Another big win came on Dec. 19 when the Lady Panthers cruised past Van Buren, 67-42.
Golden scored 11 points in the first half and Benson scored nine points to help Mountain Grove take a 30-15 halftime lead.
Stenzel had nine points, Schober added seven points and Rowen Kelly made two 3-pointers during a 30-point third quarter as the Lady Panthers never looked back in the win.
Nine different Lady Panthers scored in the win.
Golden and Benson both had 13 points; Schober added 12; Kelly had 11; Stenzel scored nine points; Hadley Driskill scored three points; while Kaylee Virtue, Adrienne Bradshaw and Aubrey Owens had two points.
(Mountain Grove tournament games to appear in the Jan. 8 issue due to early deadlines for the Jan. 1 issue because of the holidays.)