By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
STANBERRY - Getting several key players back from injury, it seemed that the Stanberry Bulldogs could hang with No. 3 and unbeaten Mound City.
And it seemed that way early. The Bulldogs trailed 21-15 after one, and both teams traded blows in an exciting start.
Right from the get-go though, junior Tony Osburn was making shots. One after the other. As he tends to do. Senior Landon Poppa joined in, and pretty soon, Mound City took a double-digit lead.
The lead ballooned - along with Osburn's scoring clip. Mound City's all-time leading scorer, who's garnered statewide attention this season, dropped a career-high 51 points as Mound City ran away from Stanberry, 81-46, on Thursday night in a Stanberry Invitational semifinal.
"Stanberry is a great team," Mound City head coach Ryan Osburn said. "I knew it'd a be a dog fight. They're so big. Their size gives us trouble. They've got kids that can score. Most of their kids are back (from last year). I expect them to be in the hunt at the end of the year."
The 51 points by Osburn are a new Stanberry Invitational record, breaking the previous mark of 43 set by Lafayette's Quinn Lowe only one night prior.
Osburn told his head coach before the game that he was determined to break his old slump at Stanberry. If ever there was a slump, Osborn smashed it.
"I had shot terrible my freshman and sophomore year at the Stanberry Tournament," Osburn said. "Hopefully, we'll see it again Saturday."
The Panthers (11-0), the No. 1 seed in the tournament and the No. 3 team in Class 1, will face North Andrew, who blew out Platte Valley Thursday, 64-34. Saturday's title game is at 2 p.m.
"Hopefully, we'll have school (Friday)," Osburn said, with impending weather coming, "and get to practice. We'll be able to prepare then but if not, we'll just have to not come out flat."
Mound City 81 - 21, 23, 27, 10
Stanberry 46 - 15, 11, 13, 7
Mound City scorers - Tony Osburn 51, Landon Poppa - 19, Gage Salsbury - 7, Will Young - 2
Stanberry scorers - Austin Schwebach - 17, Collin Sager - 12, Landon Marticke - 9, Tyler Schwebach - 6, Gavin Cameron - 2
