Panthers prevail, Lady Panthers edged in road conf. hoops at Horatio
HORATIO — On the road last Friday for 7-2A Conference hoops, the Magnet Cove Panthers and Lady Panthers battled in two intense contests for senior high boys and girls basketball competition against Horatio.
The Panthers came out victorious against the Horatio Lions 50-32, but the Lady Panthers got edged in a tough two-point loss to the Horatio Lady Lions, 47-45.
LADY PANTHERS 45, HORATIO 47
In the gritty, scrappy and overall brawl of competitive play in senior high girls hoops, the Lady Panthers rallied back from a 25-19 halftime deficit to fall short of victory to the Lady Lions. Horatio maintained a 17-6 first quarter lead, but the Lady Panthers cut their deficit in the second quarter to outscore the Lady Lions 13-8—resulting in a single digit deficit at the break for Magnet Cove. In the second half, the Lady Panthers outscored the Lady Lions 26-22, but Horatio’s 13-point fourth quarter scoring led to victory—despite Magnet Cove accounting for 11 points in the fourth. For the game, Lady Panthers’ Karsen Davis and Kassidy Gray led the spark with an identical productive performance of 11 points and two triples drained from beyond the arc apiece for duo in double-figures. Zoee Rednour finished with eight points, Emily Cook added six points, Jamie Kelley had five points and Brianna Ramthun topped off her contributions with four points.
PANTHERS 50, HORATIO 32
In senior high boys action, the Panthers took care of business on the court and finished off the Lions with a 18-point victory—50-32. The Panthers edged off Horatio 16-12 at the break, but in the second half Magnet Cove sparked to outplay and outscore the Lions 34-20 for third and fourth quarters combined—resulting in a victorious night for the visiting Panthers. For the game, Panthers’ Nathan Wetherington led all performers with 16 points and busted the net for one trey from downtown—while Levi Horton added 10 points for double-figures. Owen Tillery finished the night with eight points and drained a trey (3-pointer), Jace Beckwith scored six points, Evin Ashcraft hit five points and nailed a triple from downtown. Layne Evans had three points and big man Kizer Kidder chipped in one point from the charity stripe.