Panther girls lose heartbreaker

MT. PLEASANT - The Mt. Pleasant girls basketball team was one minute away from a monster home win on Friday night. The Panthers had the defending Southeast Conference champion Keokuk Chiefs on the ropes, but they just couldn't put them away.

Keokuk, ranked 15th in Class 4A, stormed back from seven points down in the final minute to stun the hometown Panthers. Sophomore Kayde Martin, who hadn't tallied a point all night, sank a corner 3-pointer with 20.7 seconds left to give the Chiefs a 38-37 win.

Martin's game-winner came after Keokuk cut Mt. Pleasant's 37-30 lead down to 37-35 in the first 23 seconds of the fourth quarter. The Panthers missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Keokuk ran down to the other end. Reigning SEC player of the year Abby Wolter unselfishly found Martin open in the corner, and Keokuk took its first lead since early in the third quarter.

'We didn't want Wolter to beat us,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Curt Watson. 'We tried to make sure somebody else had to beat us, and you've got to give her credit for knocking down the shot.”

The Panthers had a couple of shots in the final ticks to steal the game back, but Mt. Pleasant couldn't find the bottom of the net, and Keokuk escaped.

'We've just got to grow from it and learn from the little things,” Watson said. 'Next time we get in a close game like that, we've got to capitalize.”

Mt. Pleasant scored the first three points of the game, but Keokuk ended the first period on an 8-0 run to lead 8-3 at the first horn. Mt. Pleasant cut the Chiefs' lead to 18-14 before halftime.

The Panthers scored the first 14 points of the third quarter. Emma Huckabone poured in eight points early in the period and the Panthers held a 28-18 lead at one point, before leading 30-23 after three quarters.

Andrea Lopreato scored all seven of Mt. Pleasant's points in the fourth quarter. She led the team with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Huckabone had nine. Kenna Lamm scored seven. Emma Rugg had four. Kate Schimmelpfennig and Ava Lowery scored two points apiece, and Tristian Shull dished out seven assists.

Mt. Pleasant fell to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Southeast Conference with the loss. They will host Benton tonight in a nonconference showdown. Keokuk moved to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in the SEC.