Panthers advance to GVVC tourney semis

MONTROSE, Mo. ---- The second-seeded Sheldon Panthers beat the seventh-seeded Hume Hornets 49-29 in the opening-round of the Golden Valley Vernon County Conference tournament.

Monday's victory improved Sheldon to 12-9 overall while the Hornets fell to 0-19. Sheldon advances to face third-seeded Bronaugh in the semifinals set for Thursday night at 6:30.

In reaching the semis, Bronaugh (6-14) knocked off sixth-seeded Northeast Vernon County 56-45. (Stats for the game were not provided to the Daily Mail).

Sheldon 49 Hume 29

The Panthers led 14-6 at the conclusion of the first quarter. Sheldon then opened up a 36-6 halftime lead after going on a 22-0 second quarter blitz.

Sheldon head coach Dusty Murray said he was impressed with his squad's first half offensive execution, while he was also pleaded with the Panthers defensive effort.

"Our (junior varsity team) was able to come in the second half and get some quality minutes to work on their fundamentals," Murray said, as Hume outscored Sheldon 23-13 in the second half.

For Sheldon, guard Clayton Loyd tallied a team-high points 14 points.

NEVC 36 Sheldon 34

In Monday's lone girls' GVVC opening-round contest, the fifth-seeded Northeast Vernon County Lady Knights edged the fourth-seeded Sheldon Lady Panthers 36-34.

The victory improves NEVC to 11-9 overall, while the Lady Panthers are now 2-14. NEVC advances to face the top-seeded Bronaugh Lady Wildcats, with the contest slated for 5 p.m. Thursday. The Lady 'Cats beat NEVC 70-16 when they matched up Friday night in Bronaugh.

"The girls did everything we asked them to do tonight," Murray said of the Lady Panthers. "They played solid defense and kept the game low-scoring. On offense they really wanted to take away the paint, and we found some looks that worked against their zone defense."

For Sheldon, freshman Meckinize McCartney finished with a team-high 16 points, while Alycia Baney added six.