Panthers prevail in OT thriller

MT. PLEASANT — Twelve straight games.

That’s how many times in a row Keokuk had gotten the better of Mt. Pleasant in girls basketball dating back to 2018.

That streak was ended on Friday night in Mt. Pleasant as the Panther were able to get some payback on the Chiefs in an overtime thriller, 51-46.

Mt. Pleasant found themselves down as much as 12 in Friday nights contest against Keokuk, but the Panthers stay true to the game plan and clawed back, taking the lead off a pair of free throws, 39-38, with 3:12 to go after trailing since the first quarter.

Andrea Lopreato, who went off for 31 in the win, hit the free throws to give the Panthers the lead and also connect on a layup less than a minute later to put Mt. Pleasant up 41-38.

“I just took advantage of who was guarding me,” Lopreato said. “Our screens our plays, who’s open on the back cuts it’s all just a team effort tonight.”

Keokuk answered back with two of its own with 2:24 to go, cutting the lead to one, 41-40.

Kate Schimmelpfennig gave the Panthers some breathing room on a layup with just over a minute to go, 43-40.

With 58 seconds on the clock, Keokuk scored a pair pushing the game back to one, 43-42.

Mt. Pleasant missed its next shot and Keokuk got the ball back with a chance to take the lead. After a missed shot and offensive rebound, the Panthers converted a foul with 15 ticks on the clock giving the Chiefs a chance to take the lead with a one and one.

The Chiefs only converted one three throw giving the Panthers an opportunity to win it in the final moments.

Lopreato got the ball in her hands and sliced through the defense, but her layup was too hard off the backboard and time expired.

In overtime, Mt. Pleasant did enough to get the job done.

After trading a pair of buckets making it 45-45, the Panthers outscored the Chiefs 6-1 as they hit six free throws in the final minute to win it.

Mt. Pleasant jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter of the matchup, but Keokuk answered back with 15 unanswered to take control.

In the second, Lopreato scored all nine of the Panthers points. Keokuk took the quarter 13-9.

Coming out of the break, Keokuk opened with a 8-3 run to make it a 10 point game, 29-19, but Mt. Pleasant would end strong.

“Our team spirit was a game changer,” Lopreato said. “We’re missing players right now so people that are stepping up and showing they can play on varsity helped a lot.”

The Panthers put together a 12-6 run to the end of the quarter making it a 35-31 game, which included five straight to end the quarter by Andi Scott.

In the fourth, the Panthers opened the quarter with a 6-3 spurt before Lopreato hit the free throws to put the Panthers up.

“I’m just really proud of the girls,” Mt. Pleasant head coach Kurt Watson said. “The girls just played their butt off tonight. We’re missing two starters and they never give up. They battled and battled and battled. I want to give a shoutout to our bench tonight. They were loud and screaming and without a student body here they played a major role.”

Following Lopreato was Scott with 10. Schimmelpfennig ended with four. Hailey Parrott added three. Juliana Burns finished with three.

The Panthers will be back in action on Monday with a game against Benton.