Kale Gardner gets 1,000th career point in loss

The Mountain Grove Panthers’ basketball team ended their regular season portion of the schedule last week with a 71-66 loss at Springfield Catholic. This dropped their record under the .500 mark at 12-13.
The Panthers were in control early opening with a 16-7 run as Kale Gardner scored seven points.
Unfortunately, the Fightin’ Irish responded with a 23-point second quarter to tie the game at 30-30 entering halftime.
Brody Emery scored six points in the frame for Mountain Grove.
Emery added another 10 points in the third quarter, but Springfield Catholic was able to take a four-point lead into the final eight minutes.
Kale Gardner made three, 3-pointers and had 10 points in the final eight minutes. He did score his 1,000th career point in the loss.
Kale Gardner and Emery both scored 23 points; Aden Estep and Eli Golden both had seven points; Bret Gardner had three; and both Dalton Shannon and Brady Anderson scored two points.
Mountain Grove played Warsaw just after press time in the first round of the Class 4, District 10 Tournament at Bolivar High School.
A win gives them a match-up with top-seeded Logan Rogersville at 6 p.m. on March 5. The district finals is set for 6 p.m. on March 7 against either Bolivar (No. 2), Strafford (No. 3) or Buffalo (No. 6).