Duchesne Stuns Monroe Late, South Shelby Surges into Quarterfinals

The South Shelby girls sealed a quarterfinal trip, and the Monroe City boys lost in sectionals at Francis Howell Central Wednesday night.

Duchesne outlasted Monroe City 45-44.

Eric Duick with the call of Nathan DeGuentz’s game-winner on Glory 97 and centralmoinfo.com. Second-ranked Monroe City inbounded with one second left, and Joshua Talton’s half-court heave rimmed out at the buzzer. Talton previously handed the Panthers the lead twice inside a minute.

Talton totaled 23, but he was the lone Panther with eight-plus points. Monroe led 24-14 in the third quarter and controlled the contest until a few Duchesne threes handed the Pioneers a 41-40 advantage before the back-and-forth finish. Monroe City head coach Brock Edris evaluated the loss.

22-5 Monroe City graduates a senior class that claimed both four conference and district titles. The Panthers placed second in the state last year. 14-16 Duchesne meets Cole Camp in the quarterfinals.

South Shelby beat Elsberry 52-28 in the first sectional. The Lady Birds led 23-11 at half, then Junior Kaylee Gaines erupted in the third quarter.

Gaines delivered all 15 of her points after half. Fellow junior Miranda Patterson scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half. Both Milli Mozee-Williams and Belle Roush provided nine points in the first half. South Shelby head coach Luke O’Laughlin analyzed the program’s first sectional victory since 2008.