Coming off a pair of heartbreaking losses to Chadwick and Licking, the Mountain Grove Panthers were rejuvenated last week with victories over Houston and Dora.
In a road South Central Association (SCA) Conference contest that was rescheduled to be played on a Saturday, the Panthers held on late for a 48-44 win over the Tigers.
Mountain Grove led Houston, 28-22, at halftime before the Tigers cut the lead to just two points heading into the fourth quarter.
The Panthers did just enough late in the game to pick up the four point victory in spite of shooting just 36.8% from the field. They also made only 14-of-28 free throws.
Mountain Grove did have 24 points off turnovers with the help of 14 steals, but were outrebounded as a team, 32-21.
Kaden Bruce led the Panthers with 17 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals while Bryce Stenzel tallied 16 points, four steals, two rebounds and one block. Tyson Elliott had eight points, two steals and two assists; Gavin Charlton had five points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals; and Jase Dowden had two points, eight rebounds, four steals and two assists.
The Panthers returned home last Tuesday for a match-up with Dora and cruised to an easy 75-39 victory.
Mountain Grove jumped out to a double-digit first quarter lead and were up by more than 20 points at halftime before pulling away late for the win.
The Panthers shot 51.9% from the field and made eight 3-pointers. They had 26 points off turnovers and were paced by 15 assists and 11 steals in the game.
Eight different Panthers scored in the win as Bruce had a team-high 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Stenzel had 13 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists; Hollen Glenn tallied 11 points, four assists and three rebounds; Charlton had 11 points, two rebound and two assists; Elliott had 10 points; Dowden tallied eight points, five rebounds and three steals; Isiah Hellbusch had four points, six rebounds and two assists; and Drew Vaughan had three points.
They also had a 61-55 loss to Gainesville on the road Jan. 22. (Statistics were not available at press time, but will be available for the Feb. 3 issue.)
