Panthers defeat Demon girls

The Mt. Pleasant girls? basketball team was clicking on all cylinders on Friday night in a 73-39 victory over Washington. The Panthers used constant pressure and a balanced scoring attack to hand the Demons their third loss in the Southeastern Conference.

MPCHS soared through the first quarter with 27 points, against a team that has proven to be one of the best defensive teams in the conference. Hannah Becker led the barrage of first-half baskets for the Panthers, tallying 12 points in the first two quarters.

When they could get past Mt. Pleasant?s press, the Demons showed a potent half-court offense. Washington swung the ball around the perimeter and lined themselves up for multiple 3-point attempts early. Amber Salow hit three shots from behind the arc in the first half, heading into the locker room with nine points.

The Panthers held a comfortable 42-26 lead going into the third quarter, and great second-half defense complemented the offensive output as Mt. Pleasant was able to pull away for their fifth-straight win.

?That was by far the best game we?ve played the entire year,? said coach Dave Hutchcroft after the game. ?We have come so far since the first game of the year.?

It was the highest scoring conference game of the year for Mt. Pleasant, and the third game in a row where the Panthers scored more than 70 points.

Becker finished the game with 17 points, which led the team. Kelsi Phipps and Kalynn Batey were right behind her at 16 and 14 points respectively to give the Panthers three double-digit scorers.

Natalie Ita scored nine points in the game and Shelby Allender finished with eight. All of Allender?s points came in the first half of the ballgame.  Sarah Moffett finished the contest with five points, and Carolyn Lutovsky and Bailey Johnson scored two points apiece.

Washington, who came into the game six days removed from a big victory last Saturday afternoon against Burlington, was led by Salow who finished with 12 points.  Salow continues to lead the Demons in scoring at 7.8 points-per-game.

Addie Pacha had a bit of a breakout game for Washington, scoring nine points on 4-6 shooting and leading the team in rebounds with five. Sarah Nacos came off the bench to hit two 3-pointers for the Demons, finishing with six.

Macy Marek and Dylann Schluetter scored three points each in the game, and three Demons, Kimball Morgan, Makenna Goodwin and Hannah Black, finished with two.

?Defensively, we just moved really slowly tonight. We were slow defensively, which we have not been,? said coach Jay Zieglowsky, noting the team?s defensive successes this season. ?We?ll just go back to the practice court on Monday and work hard again. We have a great group of girls. They work hard.?

Washington moves to 0-3 in the SEC and 3-7 overall and will go on a weekend road trip after a seven-day layoff. The Demons will be in Ottumwa on Friday and Oskaloosa on Saturday.

The Panthers, who move to 2-2 in the SEC and 7-2 overall, will have a long rest as well before hosting the first-place Fairfield Trojans on Friday and then going on the road to play a Mediapolis team that will likely be ranked No. 1 in 3A.

?I still think 6-2 can win the conference,? said Hutchcroft about the team?s chances moving forward. ?We think we can be the team at tournament time that nobody wants to play.?