Mt. Pleasant boys lose in final minute

OSKALOOSA — A fourth-quarter comeback nearly turned into a thrilling Mt. Pleasant win in the Panthers’ boys basketball game at Oskaloosa on Tuesday night, but in the end, it was just another close loss.

Oskaloosa’s William Schultz sank a basket in the final minute of action and the Indians’ defense held up late as Mt. Pleasant suffered a 45-43 defeat.

The Panthers trailed 14-10 after one quarter, 20-19 at halftime and 37-27 after three periods as Oskaloosa threatened to pull away, but Mt. Pleasant slowly but surely edged back into the game in the final eight minutes.

With two minutes remaining, the game was tied at 41-41. With one minute showing, it was 43-43.

After the go-ahead bucket by Schultz, Mt. Pleasant had a couple chances to tie or win it but it was no dice for the Panther offense.

Dewon Trent, Aiden Ashton and Owen Vansickel all reached double figures for the Panthers in the loss. Trent and Ashton finished with 11 points, and Vansickel scored 10.

Mt. Pleasant is now 4-8 on the year. The Panthers will put their 2-4 record on the line against No. 5 Washington (12-1, 4-1) on Friday night at home.