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Mt. Pleasant goes back-to-back
Panthers storm back to beat Fairfield, secure SEC boys basketball title
FAIRFIELD — The hosting Trojans didn’t make it easy on the Mt. Pleasant boys basketball team on Friday night, but in the end, the defending Southeast Conference champion got the job done.
The Panthers needed to win at rival Fairfield on Friday night to repeat as outright champions. Mt. Pleasant came back from a near-double-digit deficit to win 68-57.
The two rivals traded blows in the first half. Mt. Pleasant led 15-13 after one quarter. Fairfield held a two-point lead after a corner 3-pointer by Riley Perkins in the final seconds, but Mt. Pleasant’s Payton Hagans beat the buzzer for two of his 21 first-half points to tie the game at 29-29 at the break.
In the third quarter, the hometown Trojans really put the pressure on.
Fairfield’s defense rattled Mt. Pleasant throughout the third quarter. The Trojans led by as many as nine points, as the Panthers’ SEC title hopes hung in the balance.
“We know when the team is going to go on runs,” said Hagans. “Basketball is a game of runs. We've got to battle back, lock in on defense and go on a run ourselves.”
Late in the third quarter, Mt. Pleasant’s Zach Newton knocked a seven-point deficit down to four points after capitalizing on a pair of offensive rebounds, one off his own free throw after a 3-point opportunity. Fairfield’s lead was down to 44-40, and the Panthers took a bit of momentum into the fourth.
“Maybe the tide turned a little bit there,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Eric Rawson. “But we did some things late, as far as execution goes, that we wanted to see.”
Mt. Pleasant completely controlled the fourth quarter. Sophomore Christian Stacy began to get it done inside for the Panthers, getting the lead back at 47-46 on a 3-point play midway through the period. Nate Stroud’s tiebreaking layup a minute later put Mt. Pleasant up for good.
“After Zach's and-one, that's when we really just took off,” said Stacy. “It was pretty tough, but that's what we work for, for times like that.”
Hagans and Stacy combined for 48 points in the win. Hagans led the way with 28 points and 13 rebounds. Stacy scored 20 points. Stroud finished with 10. Avin Truong had six, and Newton finished with four points and five assists.
Fairfield’s Perkins tallied 16 points in the loss. Sam Weaton finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Luke Konczal had 13 points. Ben Boatright scored six, and both Cooper Polonsky and Eli Zillman finished with four.
“We don't know how to finish games,” said Fairfield head coach Nate Perkins. “They're learning to do that now. A lot of guys could have phoned it in and quit early in the season with the record we have, but they kept playing hard.”
Mt. Pleasant is now 13-6 overall after a loss to Oskaloosa on Saturday. The Panthers finished 8-2 in conference play, while Fairfield ended the season 1-19 and 0-9.
Keokuk entered the night tied with Mt. Pleasant for the SEC lead, but the Chiefs’ rival Fort Madison spoiled a potential split championship by defeating Keokuk 57-41. That game finished just minutes after the Mt. Pleasant win.
“That seemed to be the topic of conversation when we walked in,” Rawson said. “It sounded like Fort Madison pulled out the win, so it's nice to be an outright conference champion.”
Mt. Pleasant won last year’s conference championship in similar fashion. Over the last two years, the Panthers have went 16-4 in SEC play.
After the game, Hagans put what was a topsy-turvy end of the conference slate into some pretty simple words.
“All I got to say to that is 'back to back.’”
