The Grundy County Panther basketball teams each found the winners circle on Tuesday night, earning victories in the consolation semifinals of the HDC Conference's basketball tournament at North Mercer High School. The Grundy R-5 girls beat Cainsville, 53-48, with the Panther boys downing Gilman City by a final score of 53-36.

In the Lady Panthers victory, Elizabeth Novak led the way with 19 points while Katie Coin added 16. For Cainsville, Takaya McLain had a game-high 24 points. The loss ends tournament play for the Lady Red, while the Lady Panthers advance into Thursday night's fifth place game.

Grundy R-5's opponent in the fifth place game will be North Harrison, courtesy of the Lady Shamrocks 40-27 win on Tuesday night over Newtown-Harris. Cooper Sadowsky had 17 points for North Harrison, with Haley Craig adding 12. No Lady Tigers reached double figures.

The Grundy R-5 / North Harrison girl's fifth place game will be Thursday night at 7:30.

The Grundy R-5 boys advanced into the fifth place game with a 51-36 over the Gilman City Hawks. The Panthers continue to show balanced scoring, with four in double figures in Tuesday night's win. Clayton Radcliff led the way with 13 points, followed by 12 from Brody Hatcher, 11 from Mason Larson, and 10 points from Destin Gann. For the Hawks, Ryan Burrows had 15 points with Dylan Sievering adding 12.

It will be a "Battle of Panthers" in the boy's fifth place game, with the Pattonsburg boys beating Newtown-Harris in Tuesday night's consolation semifinals by a score of 59-51. Pattonsburg was led by Tyler Fore with 19 points, Jared Teel with 16, and Matt Huskey with 12. Newtown-Harris had 19 points from Adam Crawford and 18 from Micah Busick.

The Grundy R-5 / Pattonsburg boy's fifth place game will be Thursday night at 9:00.

The CHAMPIONSHIP semifinals are Wednesday night from the HDC Conference basketball tournament. At 4:30, the top-seeded and unbeaten North Mercer girls take on the Pattonsburg Lady Panthers. At 6 o'clock, the #2 and #3 seeds in the boy's tournament collide, with the Ridgeway Owls challenging the North Harrison Shamrocks. At 7:30, the #2 girl's seed from Winston will battle the upset-minded #6 seeds from Gilman City, while at 9:00, the top-seeded Mercer boys go against the fourth-seeded Winston Redbirds. Wednesday night's winners will advance into the championship games on Friday night, with the losers in the third place games (also on Friday) at North Mercer High School.