Mountain Grove picks up win over Houston

After starting South Central Association (SCA) Conference play dropping their first two contests, the Mountain Grove Panthers ended that skid last Thursday night when they defeated Houston, 66-59.
Aden Estep scored eight of his team’s 16 points in the first quarter to help the Panthers keep pace with the Tigers.
Five different Mountain Grove players scored in a 19-point second frame. Kale Gardner’s pair of 3-pointers lifted the Panthers to a 35-31 halftime edge.
He then scored another seven points in the third quarter to pace Mountain Grove .
Up seven entering the final eight minutes of play, Kale Gardner had another six points and Brody Emery scored four as the Panthers sealed up a seven-point win.
Kale Gardner made four, 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 21 points. Estep scored 12; Emery 10; Bret Gardner had nine points; Eli Golden and Dalton Shannon had five points; and Brady Anderson scored four points.
Three days earlier, the Panthers traveled to Thayer and dropped a tough SCA battle with the Bobcats, 64-57.
Thayer maintained a lead throughout the contest, taking a 44-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Panthers rallied with a 25-point final frame as Estep scored 10 points and Kale Gardener added a pair of 3-pointers for six points.
The late rally fell short as the Bobcats won by seven.
Estep scored a team-high 22 points; Emery had 15; Kale Gardner scored 14; Golden had five; and Bret Gardner had one point.