Auora falls to McDonald County and East Newton, Lady Houn's lose to state ranked McDonald County

The Aurora High School boys basketball team played two games last week, losing to McDonald County and East Newton.
 
The Houn' Dawgs traveled to McDonald County on Wednesday, Feb. 18 but lost in overtime, 86-82.
 
The Mustangs led 20-19 after the first quarter and 33-30 by halftime. Aurora came storming back in the third quarter, outscoring McDonald County 18-12 to take a 48-45 lead into the final quarter of play. In the fourth quarter, the Mustangs erupted for 21 points, but the Houn' Dawgs scored 18 points, tying the game 63-63. Both teams combined for 42 points in the two overtimes, but the Mustangs prevailed by four points.
 
“We fought hard and battled into double overtime,” said head coach Carson Cavalier. “Thomas Lara fouled out in the second overtime and that hurt us offensively, everyone played very good basketball but ultimately defensively we struggled throughout the game.”
 
Cooper Brown and Lara both led Aurora with 22 points and Creed Kloss added 16 points in the loss.
 
The Houn' Dawgs headed to East Newton on Tuesday, Feb. 17 but lost to the Patriots 59-48.
 
Aurora led 11-10 after the first quarter but trailed at the half 23-22. A 15-point third quarter increased the East Newton lead to 38-32. Aurora scored 16 points in the final quarter of play but the Patriots answered with 21 points to secure the 11-point victory.
 
“We played well, down the stretch we couldn’t end the possessions with a rebound and costed some baskets on the other end,” said Cavalier. 
 
Aiden Ross led Aurora with 19 points and Lara added 14 points.
 
Aurora is 7-16 on the season and were scheduled to play at Mt. Vernon tonight before wrapping up their regular season at home against Hollister tomorrow night. Aurora is the fifth seed in their upcoming Class 4, District 11 Tournament at Hollister. Forsyth is the number one seed followed by, Clever, Springfield Catholic, Hollister, Aurora and Reeds Spring. The tournament will get under way on March 3 and conclude on March 7.
 
Girls basketball
The Lady Houn's traveled to Class 5, third ranked McDonald County on Wednesday, but lost to the Lady Mustangs, 40-35. Earlier in the week, Aurora lost at East Newton, 35-30 on Monday, Feb. 16.
 
The Lady Houn's fall to 10-11 on the season and were scheduled to play at Webb City last night before traveling to Mt. Vernon for their final regular season game tomorrow night. The Lady Houn's will be the third seed in their upcoming Class 4, District 11 Tournament at Hollister. Reeds Spring is the top seed, followed by Clever, Aurora, Forsyth and Hollister. The tournament is scheduled to run from March 2 to March 6.