(Park Hills, MO) The second seeded South Iron Panthers defeated the four seed Hillsboro Hawks 50-41 to finish in third place of the 68th annual Bob Sechrest Jr. Central Christmas Tournament.
The Hawks started strong with a 14 point first quarter and held the Panthers’ offense to just seven. South Iron would answer back quickly in the second, putting up 13 and holding Hillsboro to six. The score sat even at 20-20 going into halftime. Both teams came out hot in the second half with the Hawks being outscored by the Panthers 16-14. South Iron secured the win in the fourth quarter where they outscored Hillsboro 14-7.
Marquis Burse led South Iron in scoring with 23 points while collecting six boards. He was joined in double digit scoring by teammate Sawyer Huff who had 15. Despite not making it onto the score sheet, Hunter Huff collected 10 rebounds to help his team to the victory. Hillsboro was led in scoring by an eight point game from Luka Pool.
The Panthers end with a 3-1 record and finish in third place. The Hawks finish 3-1 as well, finishing fourth.