Monroe City and Milan Basketball Seasons End in State Semifinals

The Monroe City and Milan boys closed their seasons with state semifinal losses in Springfield Friday.

Monroe City fell to Charleston 51-49. The Panthers pulled ahead late in the third quarter.

Regional Radio’s Eric Duick with the call of one of Ethan Lehenbauer’s three triples on Glory 97 and centralmoinfo.com. Charleston responded with a 7-0 run and later built a nine-point lead with three minutes left. Monroe City capitalized on some late Blue Jay miscues, and the Panthers hit a three at the buzzer to land the two-point defeat. Panthers head coach Brock Edris evaluated the final 10 minutes.

Monroe City opened with a 6-0 lead Friday. Sophomore guard Joshua Talton paced the Panthers with 16 points. Monroe City finished 28-3 after its first Show-Me Showdown appearance since 1995.

28-4 Charleston challenges Cardinal Ritter for the Class 3 state title Saturday.

In the Class 2 boys semifinal, second ranked Hartville dominated Milan 71-37. The Eagles opened the game on a 9-0 run to seize control. The Wildcats did not register a score until three minutes into the game. Senior Ryan Dabney scored eight of Milan’s first nine points. In the first half, the Eagles shot 65 percent from the floor, and junior Braden Branstetter scored 21 as Hartville held a 40-21 lead after 16 minutes. Wildcat coach Andrea Dabney said Milan couldn’t match their physicality.

Ryan was the only Wildcat who reached double digits as he finished with 12. Branstetter proceeded to a game-high 27 as 30-2 Hartville faces Skyline in the Class 2 Championship. Milan finishes the year 25-4 in their first ever trip to the Show-Me-Showdown. You can hear Edris and Dabney’s postgame interviews below:

Monroe city boys coach Brock Edris:

Milan boys coach Andrea Dabney: