LEWISBURG — The Tri-County North Panthers came back from a 9-point deficit and clawed past the fast-improving Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks, 69-63,Thursday night.
The game marked just the second home contest of the season for the Panthers.
This high-scoring contest saw two individual high scoring performances with Tri-County North freshman Aubrey Stupp scoring a game-high and career-high 36 points while Mississinawa Valley countered with senior standout Kelsie Hunt who dropped in 27.
The contest was played in front of 150 fans who definitely got their money’s worth and saw Tri- County North improve to 5-7 overall and 2-4 in the Cross County Conference. Mississinawa Valley dropped to 1-10 overall and 0-6 in the CCC.
After the first quarter, the Panthers led 18-17. Hunt knocked in 10 points for the Lady Hawks followed by fellow senior Kylie Willis with three and seniors Madison Stachler and Mikayla Stump.
Second quarter action saw the Lady Hawks scorch the nets for 22 points while limiting the Panthers to an even dozen for a 39-30 advantage. Hunt led the attack by swooping in seven, Willis six, and Stump five. Sidnie Hunt finalized the scoring with four. Megan Poling contributed seven points to lead the Panthers.
The Panthers bounced back with a tie at 48-48 going into the fourth quarter. The Panthers garnered 18 points, doubling the output of the Lady Hawks. Kelsie Hunt kept the Hawks in the hunt with four points. Following right behind was Stump with three and Willis with two. Cassi Stinson of North nestled in seven points with a variety of long range jumpers to lead the Panthers.
The last eight minutes were fast and furious for both squads. Kelsie Hunt led the Hawks with six followed closely by Stump with four.
The 15-point deluge was not quite enough as Aubrey Stupp countered with 16 points just by herself. The final rundown saw the Panthers surviving by six points.
North’s Aubrey Stupp outscored all her teammates with 36, Megan Poling added 17, Cassi Stinson 11, Sara Harris four and Chelsey Streuser had one freebie for their final count of 69.
On Tuesday, North rallied from a 10-point deficit for a 48-47 win over Bradford in the Panthers’ first home game of the season.
Stupp lead the Panthers with 20 points, three blocks and 10 rebounds. Poling had 11 points, five rebounds and three steals.
North was scheduled to host Preble Shawnee on Tuesday, Jan. 17 and Tri-Village on Thursday.
