Panthers place fourth at Highland

The PHS varsity boys basketball team took fourth place at the Highland Tournament after losing to Canton, 54-45, Friday.

The Panthers trailed by eight at the half and were unable to cut the lead in the second half to go 10-3 on the season.

Trey Smyser came off the bench to sink two three pointers and lead the Panthers with 12 points.

Also scoring were Carson Hicks, 10, Bear Bock, nine, Jon Lundberg, eight, Drew Copenhaver, five, and Rayce Ragar, two.

The third-seeded Panthers couldn’t pull off an upset in the semifinals, falling to second-seeded Kirksville, 51-43, Wednesday.

Palmyra stayed within striking distance the entire game thanks to its defense, but could not make up the difference on offense.

“We played a great game defensively against a very good, athletic, and big Kirksville team,” said Coach Brian Rea, noting the game was “closer than final score” with the Panthers unable to make shots when they needed to.

“We got excellent shot opportunities inside and out, but we couldn’t find the bottom of the net tonight,” Rea said.

Hicks led the Panthers with 15 points, while Bock sank seven field goals for 14 points.

Hicks had the only free throw opportunities for Palmyra and made four of five from the line.

Hicks, Smyser and JLundberg sank the team’s three three-points while Ethan Redd, Tyler Banta, Ryan McKeown and Bronson Juette hit single field goals for two points each.

The Tigers were lead by seniors Keaton Anderson, 22 points, and Isaac Danielson, 18 points.

Andreson sank three three-pointers and was three of four from the line, while Danielson hit two long shots and put in six of eight free throws.

The Panthers opened tournament play with a 48-34 win over Clark County in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Palmyra built a 25-17 win by the half, and held Clark County to single-digit scoring in every quarter.

Ten players scored for Palmyra including Bock, 10, Ryan McKeown, eight, Smyser, seven, Banta, seven, Hicks, six, Redd, four, Juette, two, Lundberg, two, Copenhaver, one, and Jeremiah Edwards, one.

This week the Panthers host Centralia, Friday, in the Clarence Cannon Conference opener, after hosting Kirksville, Tuesday. They then host the Tony Lenzini Tournament Jan. 16-21.

2022-23 PHS 

Varsity Boys 

Basketball Schedule

11/22 Elsberry W 54-51, 1-0

11/29 at M.T. W 55-45, 2-0

12/2 at Canton W 64-52, 3-0

12/5-10 M.C. Tournament

10/5 Par. W 42-28, 4-0

10/7 Lou. W 57-50, 5-0

10/10 S.S. W 45-29, 6-0

12/13 QND W 55-34, 7-0

12/16 Unity W 50-45, 8-0

12/17 at River Rivalry

vs. Burl. L 22-59, 8-1

12/20 at Lou. W 42-26, 9-1

1/2-7 Highland Tourn.

1/3 C.C. W 48-34, 10-1

1/5 Kirk. L 43-51, 10-2

1/6 Canton L 54-46, 10-3

1/10 Kirksville

1/13 Centralia

1/16-21 Lenzini Tourn.

1/16 Highland

1/24 Brookfield

1/27 at Macon

1/31 Clark County

2/1 at Kirksville

2/3 at South Shelby

2/7 Monroe City

2/9 at Bowling Green

2/14 Hannibal

2/17 Highland

2/20-25 Districts TBA