Mountain Grove Panthers take third in Strafford tourney

The Mountain Grove Panthers’ basketball team left the Strafford Invitational on Saturday with a third place trophy after winning two of their three contests.
In the victory over Sparta, a 27-13 run in the third quarter helped the Panthers pull away for the 69-50 victory.
The Panthers led 28-24 at halftime before outscoring the Trojans 41-26 in the final two frames.
Kale Gardner scored a team-high 23 points; Aden Estep added 10; Bret Gardner and Brody Emery had nine; Eli Golden scored seven; both Brady Anderson and Carson Gibson had four points; and Peyton Metty and Dalton Shannon each scored two points.
In the semifinals, a lot of 50/50 calls by officials did not go the Panthers’ way in a 59-52 loss to Seymour. A 15-8 third quarter was too much to overcome. Kale Gardner had 27 points; Emery added 10; Eli Golden scored six; Bret Gardner had three; while Estep, Anderson and Gibson each had two.
Mountain Grove opened their first round game with Buffalo on a 22-8 run and never looked back in a 76-36 win. Ten different players scored in the win.
Golden led the way with 15; Emery had 14; Kale Gardner scored 11; Gibson had eight; Anderson and Estep each scored seven; Heath Bressie had six; Brady Harris had four; while Braydon Curtiss  and Bret Gardner scored two points.