Panthers cling on in New London

NEW LONDON - Last year the New London basketball team drove nine miles down highway 34 and handed Mt. Pleasant a loss inside their own home gym, and on Monday night in Mt. Pleasant, the Panthers returned the favor. Mt. Pleasant jumped out to an early lead and hung on for a 70-65 win to move to 6-0 till the clock turned 2020 and snap New London's four-game winning streak.

The Panhers came out hot, racing out to an early lead and holding every New London player not named Grant Swanson scoreless in the first eight minutes. Swanson, however, burned the Panthers for 13 first quarter points to get the Tigers within three, at 16-13.

The dynamic duo of Brevin Wilson and Clayton Lowery combined for 14 Panther points in the second quarter, and that helped Mt. Pleasant hang on to the lead at halftime. Six different Tigers scored in the second period, but the Panthers clung on to a three-point lead, 34-31 going into the locker room.

Keeping pace with the first two quarters, Mt. Pleasant's lead was three at the end of the third, as well. After getting held scoreless in the second quarter, Swanson went back to being dominant inside with a game-leading nine third-quarter points, but Lowery stayed hot with eight of his own, and it was 53-50 Mt. Pleasant after three.

The Panthers stretched their lead early in the fourth quarter. With Mt. Pleasant up six in the final minute, New London's Torren Riley nailed a three-pointer from the wing to cut the lead back to three, but Keegan Kohorst stretched the Panther lead to five by hitting both ends of a one-and-one, and Brody Bender put the game on ice with a steal and a layup on the other end shortly after.

'It was nice to jump out early like we did,” Mt. Pleasant head coach Caleb Akey said. 'We had probably three or four different times where we pushed the lead to 10, and unfortunately we let them back into it. That part is a little disappointing, but to withstand their rallies, I am proud of that.”

Lowery ended the night with 26 points on 11-14 shooting and 2-2 from down town. He also led the squad with five steals. Lowery now leads the team in scoring this season after averaging 19 points per game in Mt. Pleasant's last three contests.

'He's been phenomenal. He's a baseball kid, so basketball is something that has always kind of taken a step back, but he's matured physically and emotionally, and he's decided it's his senior year of basketball and he's going to play, and he's been outstanding.”

Brevin Wilson scored 17 points on the night. Jaxon Hoyle had 11. Brody Bender had eight points and six rebounds. Keegan Kohorst finished with six points and nine assists, and Jack Johnson scored two points.

Swanson ended the night with 31 points to lead New London. Blaise Porter scored 11. Riley and Kade Benjamin had seven apiece. Devon Swanson scored five, and the duo of Demontae Watkins and Jax Boyer scored two points each.

'I think the physicality got us a little bit,” New London coach Bryant Porter said. 'It took us too long to figure out. They hit some big shots in the paint that we usually get stops on, but we just couldn't get the stops tonight. It's a learning thing for us.”

Mt. Pleasant is now 8-5 overall. They'll put their 4-2 conference record on the line on Friday night when they host first place Washington. New London is 7-4 overall. They'll look for some revenge over Holy Trinity for a loss earlier this season tonight (Tuesday) in a SEISC South Division home game. The Tigers are 6-3 in the South.