Norwood Pirates finish second place in Panther Classic

The Norwood Pirates’ basketball team was hoping to win a rematch with Hartville when the two squads both advanced to the finals of the Family Pharmacy Panther Classic last weekend.
Though they were able to beat the rival Eagles in the first contest by six points, they did fall in the finals, 63-54. (Information from that contest appears in the Hartville Eagles’ article.)
Before the tough loss, the Pirates defeated Liberty (Mountain View), 66-57.
Carder Kelly made two, 3-pointers and scored eight of his team’s 18 points in the opening quarter for a five-point lead.
Cooper Vaughan and Kelly both scored five points in the second quarter to help Norwood take a 30-26 lead into halftime.
Cooper Vaughan continued his big game in the third quarter with seven points.
Then in the fourth quarter, the Pirates had a 21-point frame as Cooper Vaughan scored six points and both McDaris and Drake added five points.
An All-Tournament selection, Cooper Vaughan scored 25 points. Kelley added 15 points; Peyton McDaris, another All-Tournament selection scored nine points; Noah Drake added six points; Andrew Bradshaw scored five points; Gunner Bradshaw scored four points; and Pierce Lawson had two points.
In a match-up with the host Panthers, the Pirates overcame a sluggish first quarter defensively before cruising to a 71-56 victory.
Norwood made four, 3-pointers in the first quarter as they were paced by Andrew Bradshaw’s six points.
Meanwhile, Kale Gardner scored six points for Mountain Grove as the Pirates held a slim 19-16 edge.
While Brody Emery sparked the Panthers with seven second quarter points, Norwood hit another four, 3-pointers before halftime to go up 40-31 at the break.
Norwood pulled away in the third quarter after making a 21-11 run with the help of Lawson’s six points. He would score eight of his team’s 10 points in the final frame to help seal the 15-point win.
Norwood made 13, 3-pointers in the victory.
Cooper Vaughan, Peyton McDaris and Lawson each scored 14 points; Drake added 10 points; Kelly scored eight; Andrew Bradshaw had six points; Gunner Bradshaw scored four points; and Gary Williams had one point.
The Panthers were led by Gardner’s 18 points. Emery added 15; Peterson had eight points; Estep had six points; Golden scored five; while both Brady Anderson and JP Dickey scored two points for the Panthers.