Panthers pound hounds

MT. PLEASANT - The Mt. Pleasant girls basketball team had a chip on their shoulder on Thursday night. The Panthers let one get away in their first Soutehast Conference game against Burlington earlier this year, and they wanted to make up for it with a home win. The Panthers used a dominant first half to get the 'W,” beating the Grayhounds 51-40.

Mt. Pleasant jumped on Burlington right away, and on both ends. The Panthers won the first quarter 14-2, getting five points each from Lydia Stewart and Isabel Ashton and four from Andrea Lopreato to open up a double-digit advantage.

The Panthers followed a great first quarter with a nice performance in the second. Mt. Pleasant won the second period 10-7 to take a 24-9 lead into halftime.

'I thought our first half was one of the best halves we've played all year,” said head coach Curt Watson. 'We played defense and we made some shots.”

Burlington found its offense in the second half, but they could never get within striking distance of the lead. Avery Sutter and Tristian Shull each had nine points in the second half to help the Panthers close out the win.

'This one was definitely the one we had to win,” Sutter said. 'We definitely wanted it more than they did, I think, and I don't think anybody was happy with the way we played up there. Being on our home court, and the big crowd tonight, I think that really helped.”

Shull ended the game with 12 poitns. Sutter, Stewart and Ashton each scored nine points. Lopreato and Sydni Coleman finished with four apiece. Elli Liechty had two. Kenna Lamm and Emma Huckabone had one apiece.

Mt. Pleasant moved to 5-14 with the win. The Panthers are 4-5 in the SEC.

Mt. Pleasant has two games left on the schedule, both at home. The Panthers will host Ottumwa on Monday, and then take on Fairfield on Friday, Feb. 14.