Panther girls storm back

WASHINGTON — It was the Washington girls’ basketball team that caught fire early in what was a marquee Southeast Conference girls’ basketball matchup on Friday night, but it was Mt. Pleasant that had enough to finish.

The Panthers rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat the Demons 50-43, hanging Washington its first conference loss of the season.

Washington had all the energy early, scoring 17 points in the first quarter to take a 17-7 lead. Mt. Pleasant, however, completely flipped the script in the second quarter to tie it up, 34-34 at the break.

The Demons started the third quarter much like they did the first, grabbing the lead back and building a 31-26 lead midway through the period. Mt. Pleasant, however, responded with a 13-0 run to go up by eight points, and finished the period leading 39-33. Washington was never able to get back on top.

Mt. Pleasant was led once again by Andrea Lopreato, who filled the stat sheet with 26 points, 15 rebounds and nine steals.

Tristian Shull scored eight for the Panthers. Andi Scott had seven. Kate Schimmelpfennig scored three, and the trio of Mackenzie Musselman, Juliana Burns and Alex Scott each scored two.

Adalyn Long paced the Demons with 10 points on the day. Leighton Messinger finished with a double-double, collecting 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Kendall Hinrichsen had six points for Washington. Alex Murphy finished with four points, eight rebounds and three steals, and Makenna Conrad collected four points.

The win for Mt. Pleasant, combined with a Fort Madison loss against Keokuk, created a four-way tie for first in the SEC. Mt. Pleasant, Washington, Fort Madison and Keokuk are all tied at 2-1.