Mt. Panthers swept at Benton

VAN HORNE — The Mt. Pleasant basketball teams each dropped a game at Benton on Monday night in non-conference play.

The Bobcats bounced the Panthers 66-28 in the girls’ game, then ran away in the boys’ game, taking it 70-47.

The Panther girls had trouble with a hungry Benton squad that has beaten them six years in a row. The Bobcats dominated the first half, leading 36-11 at halftime of their seventh-straight win in the series.

Mt. Pleasant was only outscored by 13 points in the second half, as the offense and defense picked up a bit, though Benton still won every quarter.

Abby Carthey led the Mt. Pleasant girls with nine points in defeat.

The Panther boys led early on, taking as much as a 20-13 lead early in the second quarter, but Benton responded with a 24-7 run and held a 37-27 advantage at the half.

Mt. Pleasant couldn’t get back into the groove of things, as the Panthers trailed by 14 points at the end of the third, and Benton poured it on in the fourth.

Aiden Humble scored 15 points to lead the Panthers. Ian Red had 10. Carter Gehling ended with six. Grayson Lowery scored five. Isaiah Lange had four. Brody Clark finished with three, and Kaden Schadt and Keegan Heaton each contributed two.

The Mt. Pleasant girls fell to 1-5 with the loss. The boys dropped to 1-4.