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Washington Evening Journal
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Panthers prevail in thriller
Hagans’ career high leads Mt. Pleasant boys past Keokuk in battle of SEC unbeatens
MT. PLEASANT — The last two undefeated teams in the Southeast Conference went head to head on Tuesday night and only one team walked out on top of the league.
After four quarters of trading punches with Keokuk, the Mt. Pleasant boys basketball team survived their toughest league battle of the year so far, knocking off the Chiefs 57-55.
The night was highlighted by senior guard Payton Hagans, who hit a career-high 37 points, including the game-winning free throws in the final 11 seconds.
“Payton Hagans had an unbelievable individual performance,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Eric Rawson. “What a great high school basketball game.”
Hagans’ free throws broke what was a 55-55 tie with 10.7 seconds remaining. He was fouled on a drive and sank both shots, which sandwiched around Keokuk’s last timeout.
When the Chiefs threw the ball back in play, senior Diego Garcia nearly hit the game-winning 3-pointer, but the ball rimmed out and Nate Stroud grabbed the game-sealing rebound.
“It's always fun because one of my friends is on that team,” said Hagans. Diego, I have high praise for him. It's always fun going to battle against Keokuk.“
Hagans scored 24 of his points in the first half. That included six 3-pointers, a performance that lit up an already rowdy home crowd for the Panthers.
“I was surprised because after every three, they kept saying I'm a shooter, step up, and then there was still space,” Hagans said. “When there is space, I'm going to take it.”
Mt. Pleasant trailed 17-15 after one quarter. The Panthers held a 33-27 halftime lead, and a 45-42 advantage after three quarters.
Before Hagans’ free throws, Christian Stacy had hit a pair of go-ahead shots from the charity stripe with just under one minute to play, but Keokuk tied it up on the other end with a couple of free throws of its own.
Hagans’ 37 points led all scorers by a long shot. Stacy was Mt. Pleasant’s second-leading scorer, with eight. Nate Stroud scored six points, and Noah Lange had four.
Mt. Pleasant is now 5-3 overall and 4-0 in conference play. The Panthers will ride into 2024 on a four-game winning streak after starting the season 1-3.
