The Grundy County boys basketball team picked up a narrow win on Thursday at North Central Missouri College’s Holiday Hoops, knocking Hardin-Central from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 54-53 victory.
The game was back-and-forth early on before Grundy closed the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 29-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Hardin-Central came right back in the second half, however, and it was anyone’s game up until the final buzzer. A free throw by Zack Cross with seven seconds left was the difference, however, as the Panthers picked up the win.
The game-winning charity toss was far from Cross’s only highlight. He led Grundy with 19 points and 16 rebounds, a monster double-double to help carry the Panthers to the win. Corbin Axtell was just one point behind his teammate, scoring 18 points in the victory.
With the win, the Panthers improved to 6-3 on the season.
Grundy’s girls had just five players available in their match-up with Hardin-Central and an injury to Adysan Rains left the Panthers scrambling with just four players on the floor. Rains was patched up and returned to action when the second half began, but the Panthers couldn’t find their way back, falling 56-47 in the end.
Daya Allnutt led the Panthers, scoring 21 of her team’s 47 points in the defeat.
The loss dropped the Panthers to 1-7 overall on the season.
Both Grundy teams will be in action again on Wednesday, as they travel to the Hy-Vee Arena in Kansas City to compete in the inaugural 12 Courts of Christmas event. The Panthers will face Higbee at the event with the girls tipping off at noon and the boys following at 2 o’clock.