Last Tuesday night, the Mountain Grove Panthers knew they had a chance to shake up the South Central Association (SCA) if they could knock off rival Ava on the Bears’ home court.
Ava unfortunately was ready for the Panthers as they had a large home crowd awaiting Mountain Grove’s arrival.
The result, Andrew Dalton hit four first-half 3-pointers and scored 23 points in the Bears’, 55-33, victory over Mountain Grove.
The Panthers’ offense scored 10 points or less in all four quarters.
Ava made three first quarter 3-pointers in a 15-point frame to take an early eight point lead. Bryce Stenzel did score five points in the quarter.
Kaden Bruce, in his return to Ava, had six points in the second quarter to help the Panthers stay within 10 points, trailing 25-17 at halftime.
Neither team could do much offensively in the third quarter. The two teams scored just seven points as the Bears maintained an eight-point edge.
In the fourth quarter, Ava pulled away for good by scoring 23 points to get the 22-point win.
Bruce led Mountain Grove with a team-high 12 points.
Stenzel added 11 points while both Jase Dowden and Bradley Henry scored five points for the Panthers.
