By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Panthers Go Cold, Fall to Xavier in Season Opener:
The Mount Pleasant Panther basketball was held to just 15 points in the first half as the Cedar Rapids Xavier Saints earned a 51-39 season-opening victory last night at the Saints Center in Cedar Rapids.
The Saints (1-0) used a 23-10 third quarter run to pull away and pick up their 11th straight win over Mount Pleasant in the process.
Max Kaiser led Xavier and all scorers with 12 points, including seven in that third quarter, while senior forward Matthew Schmitt had nine, all of which came on made threes in third quarter.
Mount Pleasant (0-1) was led by senior guard Chase Williamson who finished with 10 points, canning two threes. Sophomore Owen Van Sickle, making his varsity debut, chipped in with nine points and five boards.
Dewon Trent chipped in with eight points and four rebounds.
The Panthers will be off until Friday night, when they hook up with Fort Madison to open Southeast Conference play.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and you can listen on KILJ-FM and kilj.com.
Other area boys’ finals last night:
Danville 69, West Burlington 52
- Ty Carr had a game-high 28 points for the Bears who picked up win No. 1 in game No. 1 under the direction of the decorated Soukup twins.
Holy Trinity 73, WACO 49
Wapello 81, Columbus 34
Central Lee 70, Van Buren 35
- Dylan Stuecker poured in a game-high 22 points, drilling seven triples for the Hawks.
Pekin 76, Winfield-Mount Union 46
- Abram Edwards had 17 points despite the losing effort for the Wolves.
On the girls side of the coin last night around the area:
Van Buren 55, Central Lee 39
- Isabel Manning finished with 29 points and 14 boards to pace Van Buren County to a 16-point victory. They’ll scrap with No. 14 Notre Dame on Friday.
Holy Trinity 41, WACO 39
Winfield-Mount Union 36, Pekin 19
West Burlington 70, Danville 37
Panthers Fall in Duel to Columbus:
No. 2 Lane Scorpil (113), Will Hotz (170), Trent Wilkerson (195) and Kai Malone (220) each picked up fall victories for Columbus Community/Winfield-Mount Union as the Wildcats picked up an easy 58-24 victory in dual at Mount Pleasant High School last night.
Mount Pleasant’s Reean Seeberg was the only Panther to win on the mat, defeating Trenton Hoback via fall in 3:29.
Three Panthers won via forfeit, including state tournament qualifying Carson Coleman.
Mount Pleasant will be off until Saturday when they travel to Wapello for a varsity tournament. Wrestling will get underway at 10:00 a.m.
Mount Pleasant Bowling Teams Earn Victories:
The Mount Pleasant varsity boys’ and girls’ bowling teams linked up Tuesday with West Burlington at King Pin Lanes in Burlington for a season opening dual.
The boys won their match by 193 pins’ and girls won their match because West Burlington only had three girls available to bowl.
Levi Svoboda rolled a series 306 to lead the boys, while Eden Svoboda picked up a series 298 to lead the girls.
Cyclone Football Up to No. 9 in CFB Playoff:
Iowa State is ranked No. 9 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.
Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State remain in the top four spots of the College Football Playoff rankings, released Tuesday night.
Texas A&M and Florida are Nos. 5 and 6 while Cincinnati, Georgia, Iowa State and Miami round out the top 10. Oklahoma, Indiana, BYU, Northwestern and Oklahoma State are the next five, and Wisconsin, North Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Iowa and USC round out the top 20.
The final five are Marshall, Washington, Oregon, Tulsa and Louisiana.