JERSEYVILLE - The Granite City High School boys' basketball team sent the Jersey fans home dissatisfied after beating the host Panthers by a score of 62-50 in the opening game of the JCHS Panther Mid-Winter Classic Tuesday night.
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The win brings the Warriors to 11-9 on the season while the Panthers slip to 12-8.
Granite picks up a bounce-back win after falling to Lutheran North the day prior in a close 44-40 game. The Warriors have had a rollercoaster of a season.
Back on Dec. 29 they found themselves sitting at 5-8 on the season after losing their fifth straight game. Then they turned things around and went on a five-game win streak beating the likes of Alton and Marquette Catholic.
"When you have a young team, you go through these ups and downs," Granite City head coach Gerard Moore said. "We've played some good teams."
The Warriors had three players in double-digit scoring figures. They were led by Taurean Valentine with 17 points, Trevon Bond with 16 points, and Mario Brown with 11 points. Jayden Moore added nine points.
Coach Moore was happy about his offense against the Panthers, especially being able to forget about the night before.
"We tried to make an emphasis to share the ball a little bit so that we can get other guys contributing," he said.
The Warriors led throughout the game by scores of 19-10 after the first, 30-23 at halftime, and 44-32 after three.
Jersey tried their best, but couldn't keep up with the ferocious pace that Granite set.
"They sped us up tonight and we weren't quite ready for their speed, for sure," Jersey head coach Caleb Williams said.
The Panthers had some shooting woes throughout the night and could never really gain any momentum.
"As far as our shooting, most nights it seems like we're off in the first half and then figure it out in the second half, so that's not out of normality for us you could say. They just made more shots than we did," Williams said.
Despite the loss, Jersey still had three players shoot double digits. Jaxon Brunaugh had another big night with 17 points followed by Francis Vogel with 13 and Ayden Kanallkan with 10.
Both teams will continue in this tournament tonight. Granite City will take on Edwardsville at 6 p.m. followed by Jersey and Cahokia at 7:30 p.m.
Edwardsville defeated Cahokia by a score of 75-43 last night.
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