Monroe City boys continue building momentum heading toward Christmas break

QUINCY — Brock Edris has his Christmas gift for the Monroe City boys basketball players neatly wrapped and ready to go.

All that’s missing is a bow.

A victory Friday night against Payson Seymour in the 17th Rumble on the River at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center would be the perfect accent. 

The Panthers ran their win streak to six games with Thursday’s 65-27 victory over Troy Buchanan and will enjoy a 17-day break between games after Friday. Edris plans to give his team five or six complete days off during that stretch.

“Being from Illinois, you have those Christmas tournaments so you only get two days off to be with family,” said the Monroe City coach, who grew up in Carthage and is now in his 14th season at the helm in Titletown. “With our kids playing both football and basketball and me coaching both sports, I try to give them at least five days off where guys can just get away.

“When they come back, they’re ready to come back”

That’s because they will have enjoyed a Merry Christmas.

“Hopefully we can keep the momentum going,” Monroe City senior guard Trey Smyser said. “Hopefully it carries us a long way into the season.”

All the Panthers have to do is continue playing defense at a high level.

Scoreless the first 3 ½ minutes, Monroe City final got on the scoreboard as Abram Smyser converted a backdoor layup off a Cole Hays assist with 4:20 to go in the first quarter. Hays’ steal and layup on the next possession gave the Panthers a lead they’d never relinquish.

It became a three-possession lead early in the second quarter and a 28-16 edge by halftime.

“As a team, as a whole, we got after it on defense,” Smyser said. “We got some fast-break points and gave ourselves the advantage. I thought we were good in transition and with our aggressiveness.”

It was a good site for Edris to see, especially after winning the 100th Monroe City Tournament last week.

“Anytime a team wins a tournament you worry about letdowns and being complacent,” said Edris, whose team beat Mark Twain at home Tuesday by 48 points. “I thought our guys did a good job on Tuesday at home by sharing the ball well and playing together. Then you come here and play a Class 6 school, a team that has played a lot of good competition, and it turned out to be a physical and scrappy game.

“It was rough early, but then we started figuring some things out.”

It resulted in a 19-6 run in the third quarter.

“We started scrapping and guys were flying around,” Edris said. “Guys are willing to share it and willing to shoot it, too.”

Smyser had a pair of 3-pointers and eight of his 11 points in the third quarter, while Hays led the Panthers with 12 points and Brent Holland and Blake Pfanner had eight points apiece.

“On almost all of my points, I was pretty much wide open,” said Smyser, who was named the game’s MVP. “One of my teammates drove to the middle, took two people and kicked out to where I was wide open. Credit to my teammates for that.”

And credit to the Panthers for earning a Christmas treat with the days off.

“I would say three-fourths of our team plays football,” Edris said. “So you go from August all the way through the football season, have a good season and make it to a district title game. You go right into basketball season. So I think everyone will be ready for a break.”