In days following Salisbury player's death, Panthers beat Hartville in Class 2 semifinal
In what has been a difficult week for the Salisbury community, the Panthers gave it a reason to smile during Friday's semifinal matchup with Hartville.
Days following the death of a junior basketball player on the team, Salisbury pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 46-34 victory over the Eagles on Friday at Hammons Student Center.
The Salisbury R-IV School District announced on Monday the passing of 16-year-old London White. The school said, after discussion with the White family, that it supported the team playing in the semifinal game. The Panthers will play Principia at 6 p.m. on Saturday for the Class 2 championship.
The game was tied at 26-all heading into the fourth quarter when Salisbury scored 20 of its 46 points to come away with the win. Cooper Francis led Salisbury with 22 points with 14 coming in the final eight minutes.
Hartville got 13 points from Jalon Cryer and seven from Logan Simpson. The Eagles will play Plattsburg at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the Class 2 third-place game at Great Southern Bank Arena.
The Eagles have won 10 district titles over the last 11 years. This is their fourth final-four finish during the stretch.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Salisbury beats Hartville in Class 2 state semifinals
