Survive and advance: MP moves on

By Andy Krutsinger, Mt. Pleasant News

Ft. Madison gave No. 4 Mt. Pleasant all they could handle on Thursday night but the Panthers pulled out a district championship.

Mt. Pleasant had to come back from an 11-point deficit in the second quarter and trailed by six points at halftime, but in the end, it was the Panthers who stayed alive, 62-51.

The Bloodhounds came out punching in the first quarter. Ft. Madison began the game with a three-pointer and didn?t give up the lead.

The Panthers had their moments in the first eight minutes, specifically a corner three-pointer from big man Tom O?Connor, but Ft. Madison kept the pressure on and led, 15-10 after one period.

Ft. Madison stayed hot in the second quarter. The Bloodhound big three of C.J. Richardson, Kaleb Cresswell and Treavor Kokjohn were playing sharp as ever and Mt. Pleasant found themselves in unfamiliar territory; trailing 26-15 midway through the period.

With the Panthers? backs against the wall, Kieran Kohorst stepped up, scoring nine points in the second quarter, including a handful of points off of offensive rebounds.

?There are points in the game where one player needs to bring some energy and bring a little bit of something no one else is feeling at the moment,? said Kohorst after the game. ?It can be any player; Jonathan (Ita) stepped up in the third quarter, fourth quarter Brady (Sartorius) came alive. Everyone has their moments they have to step up, so that was a moment I thought I had to step up.?

Ft. Madison just kept coming, however, and led 32-21 with one minute left in the first half. At that point it was time for another junior, Jordan Magnani, to make a couple of big plays.

Magnani banked in a three-pointer from the top of the key. He then stripped Ft. Madison?s Logan Rashid and took it to the hoop for an open layup, cutting the Bloodhound lead to 32-26, where it would stay until halftime.

?We needed a little boost going into halftime,? Magnani said about the run. ?We needed something to go and (to say) ?we can still come back from this deficit and pull out a W.??

Mt. Pleasant continued to claw back in the third quarter and the Panthers finally took the lead with a couple minutes left in the period.

Trailing 39-35, Sartorius drained a three to cut it to one point. Jonathan Ita rattled in a shot with 1:50 remaining to make it 40-39 Mt. Pleasant. O?Connor hit one inside and Ita nailed one from the corner.

The run ignited the Panther student section and gave Mt. Pleasant a 45-39 lead and a ton of momentum heading into the fourth quarter.

?It was just nice to get that lead,? Coach Paul Rundquist said after the game. ?Once we got that lead, I think we were feeling a little more comfortable; the momentum was there.?

The Panthers were able to close the game out in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to Sartorius who had eight points in the final period and totaled 15 in the second half to lead the team down the stretch.

After the game, Rundquist gave credit to a Bloodhound team that came ready to play.

?I thought Ft. Madison played extremely well,? Rundquist said. ?They shot well (and) came in with a really good game plan. It was just a really good high school basketball game.?

Sartorius finished with 21 points to lead the Panthers. Magnani scored 14. O?Connor had 10. Kohorst finished with nine. Ita scored five and Colin Mulford had three.

Kokjohn led the Hounds with 17 points in the loss. Richardson and Cresswell scored 11 apiece. Landon Bentley scored six. Rashid, Austin Rose and Lorenzo Riles had two points apiece.

The Panthers will move on to play a talented Oskaloosa team that had its own scare on Thursday night. The Indians trailed Knoxville, 34-26, at halftime before pulling off a 64-56 win.

That substate game will be on Monday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. The winner will punch their ticket to the state tournament in Des Moines.