The third-seeded Putnam County Midgets used a furious fourth-quarter rally to beat the Northeast (Cairo) Bearcats on Thursday night, 57-55, pushing the GRC Eastern Division runner-up into a Saturday night duel with the Salisbury Panthers, owners of a 20-game winning streak and 4th-place ranking in the Class 2 MBCA poll.
Junior forward Carson Quint made the game-winning play for the Midgets, with an offensive rebound and put-back on a missed free throw giving the Midgets the 57-55 lead with 12 seconds remaining. The final possession of the game for Northeast came up short, moving the Midgets onto Saturday night, with Putnam County ending the semifinal game on a 17-5 run. Quint led Putnam County with 17 points.
Salisbury’s Panthers, playing on their home floor, took a double-digit first quarter lead, and put things in cruise control for a 65-36 win over the LaPlata Bulldogs.
Salisbury, now 24-3 on the season, will host Putnam County in the Class 2, District 7 boys championship game at 7 o’clock on Saturday night. In the girls championship game at 5 o’clock, the top-seeded Westran Lady Hornets go against the three seed Schuyler County Lady Rams.
