The Salisbury Panthers won for the 13th time in a row Monday, Feb. 16—their 20th victory of the season—as the newly crowned Lewis and Clark Conference champions pulled away late to defeat Harrisburg, 68-52 in basketball action that was heard on KMMO-FM.
Claiming the league title outright with their win at Schuyler County on Friday, the Panthers improved to 20-4 on the year, having not lost since Jan. 10 when they fell at the hands of Glasgow in the finals of the annual Salisbury Tournament. To their credit, Harrisburg kept this game close for nearly two and a half quarters, trailing only 17-16 after one period and then 31-24 at intermission. The Panther lead was whittled to 34-31 early in the second half when Salisbury accounted for 11 of the contest’s next 14 points to build a double-digit, 45-34 advantage for themselves. After that, the Panthers never led by less than 10 as they went on to earn their 68-52 victory.
Playing on their home floor for the final time this season, Salisbury had three players in double figures. Jake Peiffer paced them with 21 points while Patrick White had 18 and Austin Cravens scored 14. For Harrisburg, the loss was only the second in their last eight games as they dropped to 12-13 overall. Thanks to four three-pointers, Caleb Nichols tossed in 21 points with Rylee Robinson adding 12 for the Bulldogs.
Earlier, the girls’ contest was over pretty quickly as Harrisburg rolled past Salisbury 72-25. Ranked seventh in the state in Class 2 basketball, the visiting Bulldogs led 17-8 after one quarter and then 40-12 at the break before coasting to their victory of nearly 50 points. The winners accounted for 11 three-pointers in this contest with six players contributing to that total.
Having won 11 of their last 13 outings, the Harrisburg girls are now 19-5 for the season. Lorelai Hunziker led them with 23 points while Audrey Arnold chipped in with 15. The loss dropped Salisbury to 7-17 on the year with Ayla King scoring 10 points on their behalf.
It’s a busy Tuesday night on our airwaves, as we’ll bring you three doubleheaders. On KMMO-FM 102.9, we have a CAC clash when Slater cross the river into Glasgow. Pregame coverage ahead of the girls contest will start around 6 p.m., with the boys game tipping off around 7:30. On KMMO AM 1300, the Marshall Owls will make their first appearance in Moberly’s new fieldhouse, when they take on the Spartans. Pregame coverage begins around 5:50 p.m., also with the girls game set for a 6 p.m. tipoff, followed by the boys at 7:30 p.m. Both these doubleheaders will stream on KMMO.com, as will Cole Camp’s Kaysinger Conference battle against Smithton. The girls game begins around 6:30 p.m., while the boys will go at it around 8 p.m.
Other basketball games scheduled for Tuesday night include:
Doubleheaders
Gilman City/North Daviess at Braymer
Warsaw at Cass Sherwood
South Shelby at Centralia
Kingsville at Chilhowee
Orrick at Concordia
Sweet Springs at Crest Ridge
South Callaway at Fayette
New Bloomfield at Harrisburg
Marceline at Knox County
Hamilton Penney at Lawson
La Monte at Lincoln
North Harrison at Linn County
Wellington-Napoleon at Lone Jack
Sturgeon at Madison
Hale/Bosworth at Milan
Pilot Grove at New Franklin
Meadville at Norborne
Community at Northeast (Cairo)
La Plata at Northwestern
Sacred Heart at Otterville
Higbee at Prairie Home
Gallatin at Princeton
Lafayette County at Richmond
Chillicothe at St Joseph Lafayette
Hardin-Central at Santa Fe
Westran at Schuyler County
Green Ridge at Stover
Northwest (Hughesville) at Windsor
Girls
Oak Grove at Butler
Boonville at Columbia Hickman
Bucklin/Macon County at Paris
KIPP KC Legacy at Warrensburg
Boys
Versailles at Boonville
Blair Oaks at California
Lexington at Holden
Brashear at Keytesville
Carrollton at Knob Noster
Tipton at Russellville
Hallsville at School of the Osage