Playing their second CLAA Conference opponent at NCMC Holiday Hoops in Trenton, the North Mercer Cardinals pulled away from a tight game at halftime with a 28-8 third quarter surge, that proved key in a 69-56 win over Hardin-Central, improving the Cardinals record to 7-2 on the season.

The Penney High School girl's basketball team received a sparkling performance from senior guard Elsie Greenwood and a game-winning bank-shot from sophomore forward Morgan Prather on Friday night, with the Lady Hornets taking a 56-54 victory over previously unbeaten North Mercer in a Holiday Hoops girl's basketball game from the Ketcham Community Center, broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7 and www.kgozfm.com.

The Ridgeway boys continue to play strong basketball this season, dominating the second half in Thursday afternoon's Holiday Hoops game with Princeton, winning 59-42, in a game broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7.

Thursday morning's snowstorm that rolled across northern Missouri CANCELLED all games scheduled for that day at the annual NCMC Holiday Hoops event. The games, including the Trenton girls against St. Joseph Lafayette, and the Chillicothe boys against Council Bluffs, Iowa, will NOT be made up.

South Harrison won the Trenton High School Wrestling Tournament by 44 1/2 points over second-place Trenton on Saturday. South Harrison and Trenton each had three individual champions, but South Harrison's lead, and team win, was gained by the Bethany team having five runner-up finishers, compared to Trenton's two. South Harrison accumulated 178 points, Trenton 133 1/2, and third place Stanberry 109. Marceline had 99, Maryville 98, St. Joseph Central JV 78, Gallatin 75 1/2, South Holt 61, and Southwest Livingston 40. There also were a handful of JV wrestlers from Marceline, S.J. Central, and Trenton.

The Trenton Lady Bulldogs survived a strong test from Gallatin on Friday night, winning the front end of a girl's/boy's varsity doubleheader from Trenton High School by a score of 48-39, in action heard on Hot Country Z 101.7 and www.kgozfm.com.

The Grundy R-5 boys won the consolation championship of the HDC Conference Basketball Tournament on Thursday night, defeating Pattonsburg by a final score of 67-47. Brody Hatcher led Grundy with 21 points, with Clayton Radcliff adding 20, and Mason Larson 15. Pattonsburg's Tyler Fore scored 18 points.

The play-by-play sports schedule has been announced for the next 2 1/2 weeks for the PAR Broadcast Group, going through the majority of North Central Missouri College's Holiday Hoops event. Tonight (Thursday night), Green City plays at Milan on KTTN FM 92.3 and www.kttn.com, with pregame at 5:50, girl's tip at 6:00, and boy's tip at 7:30. On Friday night, the unbeaten Trenton girls host the Gallatin Lady Bulldogs at 6 o'clock, followed by the Gallatin/Trenton boy's game at 7:30. Both games will be on Hot Country Z 101.7 and www.kgozfm.com, and all four games (Thursday and Friday) will feature video live-web streaming from our website's 'Internet TV' link. Click on "read more" to see the rest of the play-by-play schedule, along with games that VIDEO service will be offered.

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.

The North Mercer girls and boys basketball teams each won quarterfinal games on Monday night in their home gym, moving into the HDC Conference Tournament's semifinal round on Wednesday night.

The Trenton boy's basketball team rallied from a 30-19 halftime deficit, holding the Maysville Wolverines to only 13 second half points and finding just enough offense of its own to claim a 45-43 victory at NCMC Holiday Hoops, heard Saturday night on KTTN FM 92.3 and www.kttn.com.

The Trenton Lady Bulldogs had ten days to stew over their first loss of the season, a one-point defeat against Marceline. On Friday night, the Lady Bulldogs took their frustrations out on the Lady Warriors of Warrenton High School, improving to 9-1 with a decisive 61-27 victory at the Ketcham Community Center in Trenton.

The unbeaten and state-ranked Meadville Eagles played a dominant floor game, controlling the boards and hitting 10 three-point field goals as a team, in defeating North Mercer in a boy's basketball game on Wednesday night at the Ketcham Community Center in Trenton, 69-45.

In Monday night basketball action from Hale High School, the Grundy R-5 boys picked up their THIRD win in a row, defeating the host Cardinals by a final score of 64-46. The Panthers had momentum coming into the win, with wins over Gilman City and Pattonsburg earning Grundy the consolation hardware at the HDC Conference's annual basketball tournament.

The North Mercer Lady Cardinals rolled past Winston while the North Mercer boys held off an unbeaten Ridgeway squad, with each Cardinal team winning on their home floor on Friday night, to claim the 2012 HDC Conference Basketball Tournament championships.

In the Novinger Tournament in late November, both the Milan girl's and boy's basketball teams tasted defeat against their in-county rivals from Green City. On Thursday night from Milan High School, the Wildcats got payback against the Gophers in a double-dip broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3 and 'Internet TV' on www.kttn.com.

The North Mercer Cardinal basketball teams steamrolled their competition on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the HDC Conference Basketball Tournament being played in Mercer. The Lady Cardinals, in the first semifinal game of the night, beat Pattonsburg 76-29, with Sierra Michaelis scoring 33 points, Courtney Owens 17, and Hayley Sample 12 (on four three-point makes). Pattonsburg was led by Rheanna Gardner's 10 points, in falling into the third place game on Friday night.

The Trenton Lady Bulldogs moved to 7-0 on the basketball season, with the Trenton boys improving to 5-2, with a pair of road wins on Tuesday night at Carrollton High School. Trenton put things in "cruise control" early and breezed to a 64-12 victory over the Lady Trojans, while the Trenton boys strong first quarter led the way to the Bulldogs 59-43 victory.

The Milan girls and boys basketball teams traveled to Edina on Tuesday night to battle the Knox County Eagles in a Tri-Rivers Conference doubleheader, with the Wildcats coming home with a pair of losses, 62-43 in the girls contest, and 58-17 in the boys game, to drop to 1-2 in conference play. Tuesday's games were broadcast LIVE on KTTN FM 92.3 and www.kttn.com, and seen on 'Internet TV' from www.kttn.com.

North Central Missouri College's annual Holiday Hoops event is set to begin on Wednesday, December 19th, with the OFFICIAL schedule of games announced on Monday morning by event organizer Steve Maxey. To see the schedule of game times and dates, click on 'read more':