MP girls lose despite Williamson’s big night

The Panthers needed someone to step up if they were going to stick with a high-powered Keokuk squad in their second Southeast Conference game on Friday night, and in the first half it was Maddie Williamson who answered the call.

Williamson went off in the first two quarters, putting up 21 points by halftime, but the Chiefs still led at the break nad eventally pulled away, 64-45.

The two squads traded baskets in the first quarter. Williamson scored six points in the first eight minutes but the Panthers still trailed 13-8.

The Panthers cut the lead down to two points, at 29-27, in the second quarter, but Keokuk made a run in the final minute to stretch that lead to 34-27. Williamson put up 15 points in the second quarter to keep them in it, and the only other points for Mt. Pleasant came from Lydia Stewart.

The game stayed at one possession for the majority of the third quarter, but Keokuk was able to put points up in the closing seconds once again. This time a put-back layup at the third quarter buzzer stretched the Chiefs lead to 48-37.

Williamson had 27 points early in the fourth quarter but went down with a head injury midway through the period. That, coupled with a handful of Mt. Pleasant turnovers, helped the Chiefs put the game away.

'We just kind of let it slip away there in the fourth quarter,” head coach Curt Watson said after the game. 'We were right there with them, and they put the press on us a little more and we didn't handle it very well.”

Williamson's 27 points led all scorers and was the best performance of any Panther so far this season. Coach Watson says his senior is starting to thrive at the point guard position.

'I thought Maddie had one heck of a game,” Watson said. 'She's kind of in a tough spot (because) when we lost Kalynn (Batey), she had to move to point guard. She's been handling it really well and tonight she really looked for her shot.”

Stewart finished the game with eight points for second best on the team. Elli Liechty had six points, all in the second half, and Sadie Carrasco scored four in the fourth quarter.

Mt. Pleasant fell to 0-6 on the year and 0-2 in the SEC. The Panthers will continue a ruthless early season schedule with a road game at Class 2A No. 12 Mediapolis on Friday, Dec. 14.

'The girls are playing harder than heck,” Watson says. 'They know we're playing a tough schedule. Our biggest thing is, we want to be playing our best ball in the January and February. The teams we play in districts better beware, and if we play our best basketball at that time, nobody is going to remember what happened in November and December.”