Lady Panthers pick up wins over rivals Ava and Houston

The Mountain Grove Lady Panthers’ basketball team picked up a pair of needed South Central Association (SCA) Conference wins last week after beating two rivals by 30 points.
They opened the week with a dominating 58-25 win over the Ava Lady Bears.
The Lady Panthers opened the game with a 23-4 run as Raylee Stenzel and Stella Benson both scored seven points. Landry Golden added six points of her own as six different players scored in the opening frame.
Rowen Kelly had four of her team’s 14 points in the second quarter as the Lady Panthers led 37-12 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Kaylee Virtue hit a 3-pointer and scored five points in a 19-point quarter.
Stenzel led the Lady Panthers with 16 points; Landry Golden had 10; Benson scored nine points; Virtue had eight points; Kelly added six points; Hadley Driskell scored five points; Sadie Schober had four points; and Lyla Golden scored two points.
Mountain Grove ended the week by traveling to nearby Cabool and leaving with a 60-30 victory.
The Lady Panthers’ defense held the Lady Bulldogs to nine points or less in all four quarters.
Mountain Grove scored 24 points in the first eight minutes as Stenzel had eight points and Benson scored seven.
Landry Golden scored eight of her team’s 17 points in the second quarter as the Lady Panthers led 41-14 at halftime.
Stenzel scored seven needed points in the third quarter and Mountain Grove cruised late to the big win. She finished with a team-high 15 points; both Landry Golden and Benson scored 12 points; Kelly had eight; Driskell added five points; Schober had four; and both Lyla Golden and Aubrey Owens scored two points. Mountain Grove’s record is now 17-3 on the season.