Panthers survive Bloodhounds

MT. PLEASANT — The Mt. Pleasant boys basketball team had to dig deep on Monday night against Fort Madison.

In the two’s previous meeting, the Panthers fended off the Bloodhounds for a one point win and in their Class 3A Region 6 quarterfinal bout it was much of the same as Mt. Pleasant was able to edge Fort Madison, 40-38.

The game came right down to the wire.

Mt. Pleasant’s Aaiden Ashton gave the Panthers a 39-31 lead to start the fourth quarter, which matched their largest lead of the game.

Fort Madison answered back over the next six minutes, outscoring Mt. Pleasant 7-0 to cut the lead to one, 39-38.

Defense ended up being the difference in the end.

After a slew of missed shots by the Panthers, Fort Madison got the ball with less than a minute to go and a chance to take the lead.

The Panthers hounded the Bloodhounds, forcing them into a shot clock violation with 42.8 seconds remaining.

Mt. Pleasant got the ball and was fouled, creating an opportunity to push it to a three point game at the line with the one and one.

The shot was off, giving Fort Madison another opportunity at the lead.

Once again the Panthers heeded the call, forcing the Bloodhounds into a tough lay-in and a scrap for the ball with a Bloodhound foul put the Panthers back at the line with 8.1 second to go.

The one and one was off once again, but after a tip by Ashton on the rebound attempt the ball found Owen Vansickle and he was fouled with 1.2 to go. He connected on the first to make it a 40-38, but missed the second and Fort Madison got the ball with 0.6 on the clock.

The full court heave was picked off by Ashton as Mt. Pleasant was able to survive and advance.

“It’s tough to beat a team three times in the same season,” Vansickle said. “We knew they were going to bring it. I knew that I needed to step up.”

Mt. Pleasant (18-5) will host Solon (17-5) in the substate final on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Mt. Pleasant held the lead through much of the first half, but could never pull away from Fort Madison.

The two squads traded buckets through the first quarter as it was knotted at 8-8 after one.

Through the second, the Panthers were for the most part without Ashton as he was sitting with two fouls, meaning the Panthers were without their two leading scorers in Ashton and Payton Hagans, who’s out with a foot injury.

The Panthers were able to hold down the fort, as a lay-in with the foul from Carter Amos kicked off a 15-13 quarter.

Nine of those 15 came from Vansickle who scored the final seven points for Mt. Pleasant.

“I was just patient with my shot, especially in the first half. I knew I had to step up and be a leader, so I was trying my best to do that,” Vansickel said. “Aaiden and Payton are two of our best players, so we knew we all had to step up and play good defense and we held them to 38 points.”

At the half, the Panthers led 23-21.

“That was a perfect storm for us,” Mount Pleasant coach Eric Rawson said. “It’s something we didn’t want to happen but it did. Owen Vansickel was terrific. He was fantastic in that second quarter. I can’t speak enough about him. Obviously, he’s been in that situation before. Two years ago, he hit some big shots against Keokuk in a game we won. He’s a senior and that’s what we expect from him.”

Through the third, Mt. Pleasant was able to create some additional separation.

Mt. Pleasant kept at least a four point margin between itself and Fort Madison through the third period and then with 36 seconds remaining, Drake Anderson buried a three from near the logo as the shot clock expired to give the Panthers a 37-29 lead and the momentum boost they needed.

“Drake Anderson came in and hit a big shot,” Rawson said. “We practice those half-court shots all the time. He makes them. Those guys that make them get a Gatorade, so I’m out a lot of Gatorades. It was nice to see him hit that. He’s been playing well here of late.”

Fort Madison scored a pair of its own to make it 37-31 heading into the fourth, but Mt. Pleasant came out on top.

Vansickle finished with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists in the win. Ashton tallied seven points. Nate Stroud and Noah Lange each picked up four points. Amos, Anderson and Christian Stacy all finished with three.