Lady Panthers beat Lady Bears for third place

When the Mountain Grove Lady Panthers took on Willow Springs in the third place game of the 12th Annual Mountain Grove Holiday Tournament, it was more than just a battle of South Central Association (SCA) Conference rivals. The Lady Bears were the top overall seed and the Lady Panthers were No. 2 as both squads lost contests in the semifinals and were disappointed to not be playing for a championship.
Both teams were focused on leaving the tournament with some hardware, which set up a classic battle on Saturday, Dec. 27 that came down to the final minute of play.
Sadie Schober first picked up a steal and converted a 3-point play with 32.6 seconds left to give Mountain Grove a two-point edge.
Afterwards, the Lady Bears hit a pair of free throws with 22.6 seconds left to tie the game at 43.
With 7.1 seconds remaining, the Lady Panthers took a timeout, giving time for coaches to draw up the game-winning play, which was executed with perfection.
Schober was the benefit of a lot of movement and screens before getting the ball and going to the basket with her left hand to score the game-winning shot with 1.2 seconds left in the contest.
The clock would eventually run out and the Lady Panthers ran onto the court to celebrate the big win over their SCA rival.
During the start of the game, Schober converted a 3-point play and Hadley Driskill hit a 3-pointer to give the Lady Panthers a 10-7 lead.
In the second quarter, Mountain Grove would go up seven with the help of 3-pointers from Cassidy Behrendsen and Driskill.
Rowen Kelly added one of her own, but Willow Springs would hit three, 3-pointers and took a 23-21 halftime lead.
Willow Springs would put together a 7-0 run as they went up nine early in the third when Stella Benson and Schober hit a pair of 3-pointers for a 6-0 run.
Schober scored nine points in the quarter to help close the gap back to two points.
In the fourth quarter, Schober would score 11 points to help her team pull away for the win.
Schober scored a team-high 25 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal. She was also named to the All-Tournament team.
Driskill scored six points, two rebounds and two assists; Benson scored five points, five rebounds, three assists and one steal; Kelly had three points, four rebounds and one assist; Behrendsen added three points, two rebounds and two steals; Kaylee Virtue had two points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals; and Briley Curtiss had one point and two rebounds.
After receiving a first round bye, the Lady Panthers avenged a loss to Van Buren just days earlier by picking up a 59-27 win after holding them to under 10 points in all four quarters.
Schober finished with 22 points; Virtue had 14; Behrendsen scored six; Briley Curtiss scored four points; Briley White, Driskill, Benson and Kelly each scored three points; and Marli Melton had one point.
Things did not go their way in the semifinals as they fell to Dixon, 57-39.
Schober scored 16 points; Benson had 10; Kelly had five points; Driskill had three points. Behrendsen and Virtue added two points; and Curtiss scored one point.
Before the tournament, the Lady Panthers fell to Van Buren, 49-44.
Virtue, Schober, Benson and Kelly each had eight points while both Curtiss and Driskill scored six points.
One week earlier, the Lady Panthers fell to a good Aurora team, 57-52.
Benson made four, 3-pointers for 16 points; Schober had 12; Virtue with seven; Kelly had five; Curtiss and Driskill each had four points; and Behrendsen had two points.