Wildcats, Panthers meet with MVC title on the line

Leopold's Tommy Beussink handles the ball against Marquand on Tuesday, Jan. 30, at Meadow Heights High School in Patton, Mo.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Meadow Heights will take on Leopold on Thursday, Feb. 1, at Meadow Heights High School in Patton, Mo., with the MVC Tournament title likely on the line.

With four teams participating in the tournament, a round-robin format was adapted so each team can still get three games in the schedule. Both Meadow Heights and Leopold won two straight games to set up the title bout.

Leopold (7-11) defeated Marquand-Zion 71-26 on Tuesday. The Wildcats pounced on the Tigers with a 19-4 first quarter lead. Leopold took a 34-13 lead at halftime and outscored Marquand 22-9 in the third quarter to truly put the game away.

Leopold was led by Keegan Deck, who scored 15 points through three quarters. Brody Halter scored 14 points through three quarters and Preston Campbell came off the bench to score 11 points for the Wildcats. Tommy Beussink added 10 points to round out the double digit scorers for Leopold.

Meadow Heights (8-7) swept through the competition with a 71-31 win over Marquand-Zion on Monday and a 88-32 win over Zalma on Tuesday. In that game, the Panthers pounced early with a 29-9 first quarter lead and was able to cruise to victory after going to halftime up 48-19.

This will be the second meeting between Leopold and Meadow Heights. The Wildcats previously defeated the Panthers 51-49 to open the season at the Woodland Invitational Tournament in late November. The two teams were slated to meet again on Jan. 17, but the game was postponed due to winter weather. Prior to this season, Meadow Heights has won four straight games over Leopold, including in the previous two MVC Tournaments.

Braydan Homan led the Tigers with 11 points. Marquand will take on Zalma on Thursday to round out the tournament. The Tigers have won four of the previous five meetings against the Bulldogs. Prior to Marquand’s recent success in the series, Zalma has won 25 of 28 matchups.