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MP muscles past Fairfield, takes third in SEC
Three sophomores finish in double figures for Panthers
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD — Mt. Pleasant boys basketball imposed its will against its Highway 1 rivals. The Panthers ended Southeast Conference play on a high note with a 65-46 win over Fairfield, cementing a third-place finish in the league.
Fairfield fought hard against a lengthy MP team, but ran out of gas in the fourth quarter after winning the third period 21-14. With just a six-point lead, the Panthers funneled the ball into the paint and scored 23 points to Fairfield’s 10 in the final stanza to secure a comfortable victory.
“I think we were just rushing a lot in the beginning,” MP’s Isaiah Lange assessed. “We weren't doing what we needed to do to get the ball in the paint, and then that fourth quarter we kind of went back to our morals and what we do in the game.”
Lange muscled his way inside all game and led all scorers with 15 points. The sophomore scored five straight points in the closing stages of the third quarter after Fairfield cut MP’s lead to three.
Lange added seven rebounds to his productive night. He also tallied five of MP’s seven steals.
The Panthers were led by a strong sophomore group in the win. Ryan Helling finished with 13 points on 5 of 9 from the field. The Panthers got a major boost off the bench from Carter Gehling, who matched Helling with 13 points and added four rebounds, one assist, two steals and two blocks.
“He's going to have a nice future,” Mt. Pleasant coach Eric Rawson said. “He's big kid, and he can shoot it from deep and he's a lefty. He's a good piece for that sophomore group.”
Mt. Pleasant’s first surge of the game came in the second quarter, which it won 16-4. Fairfield already faced a deficit in the paint, which increased without the presence of high-flying forward Eli Zillman, who missed Friday’s game with a finger injury. The Panthers were able to dominate the glass, winning the rebounding battle 31-21, including 13 boards on the offensive end.
The Panthers won the turnover battle 15-8 and were able to limit Fairfield’s leading scorer Ethan Bisgard to 12 points. The junior went 3 of 6 from the field and 5 of 8 from the free throw line, but faced heavy resistance when driving to the basket.
“That was a huge part of the game plan,” Rawson said. “He was able to get to the line, draw some fouls, but I thought we did a really nice job. Grayson Lowry (and) Brody Clark did a nice job on him as far as containing the dribble drive. Defensively I liked where we were at.”
Fairfield wasn’t able to overcome MP’s size but still captured some momentum coming out of halftime. Spencer McCready and Andrew Myers hit 3s on back-to-back possessions to trim MP’s lead to five. Rowan Kness made it a 3-point game with a make from deep later in the quarter and had a buzzer-beating layup after Lange’s five-point barrage.
Nolan Smith was also effective for Fairfield. He finished with just three points and two rebounds, but provided a steady presence in the paint leading to a few one-and-done possessions for Mt. Pleasant, which allowed Fairfield to go on a run.
Myers finished second behind Bisgard with nine points. The senior added four rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block.
Kness and Axl Starr combined for 13 points off the bench. McCready finished with six points, five rebounds and a steal.
“I'm really proud of the way they played today compared to the way we've been playing the last four or five games.” Trojans coach Nathan Perkins said. “They came out, they played as a team, they shared the basketball and we knocked down shots, and that's something they can build on as we get ready for next week and into the playoffs.”
Mt. Pleasant (5-5 SEC) secured third place in the conference behind Keokuk (10-0) and Burlington (8-2). Fairfield (1-9) finished sixth with a lone SEC victory over Ft. Madison.
The Panthers and Trojans will both begin postseason play Feb. 23 in the first round of their respective substate districts. Fairfield received a No. 8 seed in substate 3 and will face off against No. 1 seed Pella. Mt. Pleasant earned a No. 5 seed in substate 4 and will take on No. 4 seed Assumption.
