Bock, Panthers put themselves in position to win third straight Monroe City Tournament title

MONROE CITY, Mo. — The Palmyra boys basketball team is one victory away from winning a third straight Monroe City Tournament for the first time in more than 20 years.

Palmyra, which has won more Monroe City titles than any other school in the 100-year history of the event, moved into the finals via its 43-35 victory over South Shelby in Thursday night’s semifinals before a crowd of about 300.

Palmyra (5-0) will face Monroe City (4-1) in Saturday’s 7 p.m. championship game.

“It’s always exciting to play Monroe City, especially in a great environment like this tournament,” said Palmyra sophomore guard Hudson Bock, who registered a game-high 20 points in leading the Panthers to their 18th win in the last 20 meetings against South Shelby.

Palmyra will be seeking its 29th tournament title, while Monroe City is chasing a 26th championship. South Shelby in third in tourney titles (7). 

Palmyra last won three straight crowns in Monroe City between 1998-2000. The Panthers will also be trying to win both the boys and girls titles at Monroe City for a record seventh time.

Bock was the individual standout, although his roles differed from one half to the next. He scored 18 of his points over the first two periods. He made a pair of 3-pointers to accent some effective drives to the basket and an impressive short game.

“You just have to play the situation,” said Bock, who served as more of a playmaker and decoy in the second half. “I just tried to show leadership by helping take care of the ball to help us keep the lead.”

Bock credited a stronger second-half defensive performance for allowing Palmyra to control much of the game’s pace and momentum.

“Coach (Brian Rea) told us at halftime our defense stunk, so we concentrated on playing lockdown defense in the second half,” Bock said.

Palmyra allowed just 15 points over the third and fourth quarters, but was never able to totally separate itself from South Shelby (1-3) until the closing 2 ½ minutes. The Panthers strung together six straight points to lead 41-32 with a little more than a minute remaining to wrap up their eighth straight Monroe City Tournament victory.

Palmyra’s 35-point defensive effort marked the third time the Panthers have held an opponent to less than 40 points. Palmyra is surrendering 45.6 points per game, with an average margin of victory of 21.2 points.

Ryan McKinney seconded Bock with seven points, while Mason Smith (10), Pierce White (9) and Tate Hammond (6) led Palmyra to a 39-26 rebounding advantage.

“What killed us was defensive rebounding and not taking any charges,” South Shelby coach Kent O’Laughlin said. “We also had some good looks on offense, but we also forced some shots. Our defense was decent.”

O’Laughlin pointed out an overall lack of continuity also hindered the Cardinals. South Shelby has only had its full varsity team together a short time due to the school’s deep run in the football postseason.

“It’s going to take us a while,” O’Laughlin said. “I think we should get caught up around Christmas break.”

Pryce Eagan scored 15 points to pace the South Shelby offense.