The Chillicothe Hornets rode a game-high 19 point effort from Cade Snyder in a 55-38 victory over Bishop LeBlond, in the Midland Empire Conference opener on Thursday night at the CHS gymnasium.
Walker Graves had 12 points and Jack Willard 11 for the Hornets, who took control of the game on the strength of a late-first, early-second quarter surge.
In other MEC boys action, Savannah edged Cameron 52-51 and Benton, behind 31 points from Saxton Thuston, won at Smithville 72-59.
The #2 ranked (MBCA Class 1) Winston boys played without senior point guard Craig Lewis, but took their 12th victory of the season (without a loss) in a 51-27 triumph over Tina-Avalon. Griffen Harris and Jacob Lewis both had 13 points and Cy Uthe 11 for the Redbirds. Head Coach Eric Lewis told KTTN that Craig Lewis did not play due to a “slight injury”, and should be OK going forward. The Lady Redbirds suffered a 39-21 loss against Tina-Avalon.
The Grundy R-5 girls got into the win column on Thursday night, downing the Northwestern Lady Eagles, 46-40. Jandie Peterson had 14 points and Matana Munday 11 for the Lady Panthers. The Northwestern boys beat Grundy R-5 69-37. Bryson Gann had 17 points to pace the Panther boys.
In the Grand River Conference, the Putnam County boys moved to 3-0 (taking a 1/2 game lead over Trenton and Milan for the eastern division lead) with a 77-53 victory over the Polo Panthers. The Lady Midgets took a 61-39 win over Polo. The games, played in Unionville, were make-up games from the ice storm-postponed games of December 16th.
The #1 ranked (MBCA girls Class 1) Jefferson Lady Eagles suffered their first loss of the season, 43-40 to the South Nodaway Lady Longhorns. The Jefferson boys salvaged a split with a 56-33 win.
In the GRC West, the North Andrew boys, ranked #4 in Class 1, took a road win at King City, 50-27. In the opener, the Lady Wildkats took a 38-25 win over the Lady Cardinals.
