Montgomery County races past T-Birds again

MOKANE - The No. 7 seed North Callaway Thunderbirds were manhandled by the No. 2 Montgomery County Wildcats for the second time in four nights in a 76-47 first-round loss Tuesday night at the South Callaway Invitational Tournament.

Montgomery County - which whipped North Callaway 80-50 in an Eastern Missouri Conference matchup in Kingdom City last Friday night - raced to a 29-8 advantage after one quarter Tuesday night. The Wildcats then proceeded to outscore the Thunderbirds 27-11 in the second quarter to widen their lead to 56-19 at halftime.

Sophomore guard Coy Danison finished with a team-high 15 points for North Callaway (1-10). Sophomore guard Adam Reno came off the bench to supply 10 points.

Aubrey Nelson delivered a game-high 21 points - connecting on five 3-pointers - to lead four players in double figures for Montgomery County (10-2). Chase Parish followed with 19 points, Tim Hall hit four 3s in finishing with 16 points and Corey Kroll added 10.

The Thunderbirds will face either No. 3 seed Hermann or No. 6 Russellville in the consolation semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The game will be played in the middle school gym.