Like all teams that face the Winston Redbirds, the Pattonsburg Panthers didn’t have the option of picking their poison on Tuesday.
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Less than a week after senior Jacob Lewis torched Wellington-Napoleon for 43 points, senior Cy Uthe scored 29 from all over the floor to guide the Redbirds to a 56-37 victory in Tuesday’s Class 1 sectional at St. Joseph Civic Arena.
The Redbirds, 26-0 and ranked #2 in Class 1, will face Jefferson, 25-4, in Friday’s Elite 8 round at 6 p.m. back at Civic Arena. Jefferson avenged a pair of losses to Mound City on Tuesday, knocking off the #3 ranked team by a 61-45 margin. Mound City had won three previous meetings by a combined 7 points.
Friday’s winner at the Civic will face either Wellsville, 13-13, or Linn County, 14-7, at 4:30 p.m., Friday, March 8, in Springfield.
The Redbirds set the tempo early. Cy Uthe drained a 3-pointer from the wing and took an underhand feed from Jacob Lewis under the basket to stake Winston to an 11-5 lead with 3 minutes left in the first period. Lewis popped a trey with Panther defender Patrick Cowley in his face. Tyler Turner put the Redbirds ahead, 16-5, with a bucket down low off a Jakub Hisel assist.
The Panthers had failed to score for nearly 5 minutes but Trevor Ireland went coast-to-coast for a layup to break the pattern early in the second. A pair of field goals by Cameron Jones and buckets by Carter Crone and Dillon Turner helped the Panthers trim the deficit to 28-15 at the break.
Uthe again made a statement coming out of the locker room for the second half, immediately nailing a trey and adding a 2-pointer that forced the Panthers to call a time out, trailing 33-15. A Trevor Ireland 3-pointer at the 5:49 mark broke a 2-minute scoring drought for the Panthers but the up tempo Redbirds would stretch their advantage to 42-25 by the end of the quarter.
The Redbirds were able to coast to the final horn, outscoring the Panthers, 14-12, in the final period.
Lewis finished with 11 and Hisel contributed 8 for the Redbirds.
Trevor Ireland led the Panthers, who finished the season 21-5, with 11 points. The Panthers will return 3 key starters next season for another post season run, Jones, Cowley and Crone.
Cy Uthe had the hot hand for Winston with 29 points.
Winston’s Tyler Turner and Pattonsburg’s Patrick Cowley fight for a loose ball during Tuesday’s Class 1 sectional.
Trevor Ireland concentrates on the hoop as a Winston defender holds his ground.
Winston’s Redbirds won their second straight district basketball title and fourth overall in the last 5 seasons by beating Wellington-Napoleon, 78-46, on Friday at Braymer High School.