The Grand River Conference rivals Milan Wildcats and Putnam County Midgets were both in action on Tuesday night, playing in the boys quarterfinal round of the Class 2, District 7 tournament at Salisbury High School.
In action heard on KTTN FM 92.3, the 5th-seeded Wildcats lost a 10-point lead (41-31) at the end of the third quarter, with strong outside shooting by Hank Noah catching up the LaPlata Bulldogs to Milan, and eventually winning the contest 53-50. Trevor Pipes led LaPlata with 22 points with Noah finishing with 15.
For the Wildcats, finishing their first year in the GRC with a record of 14-11, Wyatt Bohle had a game-high 23 points.
The Tuesday night result was better for Putnam County, as senior forward Calvin Heidenwith had 36 points in a 71-58 win for the Midgets against the Schuyler County Rams. The result sends Putnam County into the boys semifinals, and a meeting with Northeast of Cairo on Thursday night at 7:30. Cairo advanced with a 63-59 upset win over #2 seed Marceline, as Jalen Allison’s 37 points proved to be too much for the Tigers to overcome. Mackenzie Fessler paced Marceline with 29.
LaPlata’s win over Milan pushes the Bulldogs into a Thursday night (6 PM) semifinal with the top-seeded Salisbury Panthers, who blasted Westran in the quarterfinal round, 69-26.
In tonight’s (Wednesday night’s) girls semifinals, Westran plays Salisbury at 6 o’clock, followed by Cairo against Schuyler County at 7:30.
The championship games from Salisbury High School will be played Saturday night at 5 o’clock (girls) and 7 o’clock (boys).
