A mid first-half slump cost the North Central Missouri men on Wednesday night, as a 54-37 halftime deficit proved too much to overcome, in a 96-84 Region 16 defeat to rival Penn Valley that knocks the Pirates record down to 10-8 overall, and 1-1 in region play.
The loss is the third in a row for the Pirates, who face a difficult road test on Saturday, playing in Harrison, Arkansas against the North Arkansas Pioneers, a team yet to lose on its home floor, at 2 o’clock.
Penn Valley, now 11-8 on the season, and 1-1 in Region 16 play, was led by Thomas Bell, a “long and lean” left-hander who scored a team-high 23 points. Point guard Darius Rice added 22 points, with Roy Meekie contributing 19 and B.J. Saunders 14 into the road win.
North Central had a strong performance from leading scorer Jalen Gant, as the sophomore from Kansas City Southwest Charter had a game-high 36 points, including 11 of 12 from the free throw line. The Pirates, despite trailing for the entire second half, were able to chop the lead to a close enough margin to have a chance to cut the lead to one possession, twice, with two minutes remaining in regulation, but missed a pair of untimely three-point shots that could have changed the outcome of the game, or, at the very least, put more pressure on the visitors from Kansas City.
Jordan (J.R.) Reece had 15 points for the Pirates, with 12 coming in the second half rally for NCMC. Cody Glenn, the “outside gunner” from Lawson High School, hit four three-pointers in a 12 point night. North Central’s final two regular season Region 16 games will be on the road, with a trip to St. Louis on February 3rd followed by a trip to Kansas City for a rematch with Penn Valley on February 10th. With the closing of Wentworth Military Academy last spring, only three teams (NCMC, St. Louis, Penn Valley) currently make up the region, meaning achieving the #1 seed for the postseason tournament in Jefferson City would give that squad an automatic berth into the Region 16 championship game.
