It’s been a season of streaky play for the Mountain Grove Panthers basketball team.
They opened the season on a three game losing streak and recently lost four games in a row.
Previously, they had won four games in a row and added a three game winning streak in December.
The Panthers have now won two games in a row after defeating South Central Association (SCA) foes Cabool and Salem.
After tailing early to Cabool, Mountain Grove won the final three quarters, 51-43, for a 68-62 victory.
Jase Dowden opened the game with six points to pace the Panthers early.
Down by one, Kaden Bruce sparked the offense with six points.
Hollen Glenn added a 3-pointer as they tied the game at 34-34 by halftime.
In the third quarter, Bruce scored 10 points while Bryce Stenzel added another six points in an 18-point quarter.
With a five point lead at the start of the fourth quarter, Bruce’s six points and Bradley Henry’s five points paced the Panthers to a six point win.
Bruce led the Panthers with 24 points; Stenzel had 13; Dowden scored 12 points; Glenn added seven points; Henry scored five points; Isiah Hellbusch had four points; while Drew Vaughan scored three points.
Mountain Grove then held off a charging Salem team, 46-43, in overtime. (No statistics were made available for that game at press time.)
Before the two victories, the Panthers traveled to Willow Springs and left with a 60-52 loss.
The Panthers trailed by just one point at halftime before the Bears outscored them, 37-30, in the final two quarters.
Bruce made four, 3-pointers for 19 points. Henry and Vaughan each had 10 points; Stenzel scored seven points; and Dowden scored six.
