Macon Advances to District Semis With Win Over Monroe City

The fifth-seeded Macon Tigerettes outlasted the fourth-seeded Monroe City Lady Panthers 47-39 in the opening round of the Class 3 District 6 basketball tournament Monday night. The Tigerettes held the lead for the majority of the game but it took a pair of three-pointers from Ella Barnett to give them breathing room in the fourth quarter.

Colin Schowe with the calls on Glory 97.3 and centralmoinfo.com. Ella Barnett finished the game with nine points on a trio of three-pointers. Reece Barnett led the Tigerettes with 16 points while Payton Weimer added 12. Coach Thomas Kirkland said he liked the way his team approached the game.

The win came just over 48 hours after the Tigerettes beat the Lady Panthers in their regular season meeting 62-56. This time around the Tigerettes held Monroe City’s leading scorer Naaron Hays to three points. Kirkland praised his defense’s performance.

After falling behind by nine early in the fourth quarter, the Lady Panthers cut the deficit back to five on multiple occasions, but got no closer. Coach Adam Rung said they never could seem to get over the hump.

Audri Youngblood led the Lady Panthers with 16 points while Maridith Gares added 12 points. Gares and Taylor Pfaff were the lone seniors for the 13-14 Lady Panthers. Rung reflected on their basketball careers.

Macon improves to 11-16 and will face top-seeded Palmyra on Wednesday. You can hear full postgame interviews with both coaches online at centralmoinfo.com.

Macon coach Thomas Kirkland

Monroe City coach Adam Rung