Panthers sweep Columbus

The Columbus girls? basketball team had a record-tying performance on Tuesday night, but it wasn?t enough for the Wildcats.

Bailey Stroud tied the Columbus single-game record for 3-pointers in a game with five, but the Wildcats couldn?t pull off the upset at Pekin, falling 77-53.

Columbus fell behind early, trailing 23-6 at the break, but the offense woke up in the second quarter.

The Wildcats outscored Pekin 20-12 in the frame to make it 35-26 at halftime, but couldn?t hang on to the momentum in the second half.

Another 23-point quarter from Pekin put the game out of reach, as the Panthers outscored Columbus 42-27 in the second half.

Stroud finished with 25 points in the contest, making 8 of her 10 free throws in the contest, while Shania Boyd had 14 points and Laura Mincks had 11.

The Panthers were paced by Beth Atwood, who notched 15 field goals in the contest, en route to scoring 32 points.

The loss drops the Columbus girls to 2-2 on the season.

The Columbus boys had a similar result against the Panthers on Tuesday night, falling 65-45 to the Panthers.

The Wildcats outscored the Panthers 13-11 in the fourth quarter, but were otherwise held at bay, with Pekin winning each other quarter by at least seven points.

After falling behind 18-11 in the first quarter, Pekin continued its momentum by taking a 38-24 lead into the halftime break.

The Wildcats couldn?t bounce back into the game.

Columbus was led by Carter Colby?s 13 points on the night, while Tommy Pretz and John Rees each scored eight points.

The Columbus boys fell to 0-3 on the season, and the Wildcat boys and girls will take on Iowa Mennonite at home on Friday night.

IMS boys stay unbeaten

Behind Eli Gingerich?s 35 points, the Iowa Mennonite boys? basketball team held off New London on Tuesday night.

Nick Yutzy added 16 for IMS as they took a 78-67 victory over the Tigers to move to 3-0.

IMS hopped out to a 19-13 first-quarter lead, but New London quickly cut that down to 20-19 early in the second quarter.

IMS held New London at bay, however, and took a 38-34 lead into halftime.

The teams held even in the third quarter, with IMS maintaining its four-point lead after the period, but a late run helped IMS pull away for the victory, behind 13 points from Eli Gingerich in the quarter.

The IMS girls? basketball team also faced New London on Tuesday night, and trailed the Tigers 21-11 at halftime. IMS? offense came alive in the second half, as they nearly doubled their scoring output in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, trailing by 10 points, IMS brought themselves within five points, but weren?t able to get over the hump, losing 45-39.

The loss moves the IMS girls to 0-4 on the season.