PENDLETON — The answer to Mt. Vernon’s problems in Saturday’s Hoosier Heritage Conference girls basketball opener at Pendleton Heights High School was pretty simple.
The Marauders needed to get their starters on the floor.
Beset by first-half foul troubles, many of the Marauders top five spent much of the game’s first 16 minutes sitting next to head coach Julie Shelton.
Currently not having the luxury of a deep bench, the foul issues helped turn an early first-quarter lead into a significant deficit.
With the starters back on the floor for much of the second half, the Marauders made a memorable comeback.
Mt. Vernon went on a 15-0 fourth-quarter run and outscored Pendleton Heights 20-4 in the final period to defeat the Arabians 50-38.
It was Mt. Vernon’s first conference game of the season. Pendleton Heights, winners of last year’s HHC title with a 7-0 record, dropped to 3-1 in league play.
The loss was Pendleton Heights first in HHC action since Jan. 14, 2021 to New Palestine. The Arabians had won 10 straight league games prior to Saturday.
The Marauders were called for 10 first-quarter fouls. Four starters had at least two fouls, including leading scorer Ellery Minch, a 6-foot-3 junior being recruited by a number of Division I programs, who picked up her second foul with still 3:15 remaining in the opening period.
Other starters, Easton Wampler, Kaitlyn Laffey and Khloe Patterson all spent time on the bench in foul trouble.
“We don’t have a lot of depth,” Shelton said. “Any time I have one or two of them on the bench, we really struggle to score. Everything is harder for us. By the fourth quarter, until Laffey fouled out, that (six-minute) stretch when we had all five starters in, offensively and defensively, we looked better.
“That was probably the difference in the game.”
An early 7-3 Mt. Vernon lead relinquished and was flipped to a 22-9 deficit. Minch and Laffey reentered before the first half ended and were able to cut the margin significantly. The Marauders ended the second quarter on a 10-0 run and trailed only 22-19 at halftime.
Shelton said she was hoping to hold the team’s top scorers out, but when the lead grew to double figures, she decided to situational substitute, playing Minch on offense and subbing her out for defense.
Pendleton Heights led the entire third quarter and some of the fourth. Mt. Vernon’s Kanyonrae Kenny, the only Marauder starter not in foul trouble, and Laffey hit back-to-back 3-pointers. Kenny hit one from the left baseline to tie the game, 38-38 with 2:21 remaining. Laffey hit her trey from the right baseline to give Mt. Vernon a 41-38 lead with 1:41 to go.
Breaking the Arabians pressure defense, Wampler found Patterson for a transition bucket to grow the lead to five. Mt. Vernon went 7 of 9 at the free-throw line down the stretch and scored the game’s final 15 points.
The Arabians last points came on a bucket from Berkley Shelton with 3:55 remaining.
Pendleton Heights was without first-year head coach Nick Rogers, who was serving a suspension after being assessed a double-technical in the previous game against Shelbyville. Varsity assistant coach Lauren Rummel handled the on-court coaching on Saturday.
Rogers said it was difficult not to be on the bench and called it an “unfortunate thing that transpired against Shelbyville.”
On Saturday, he said he watched the game’s live stream video.
“Down the stretch, those girls who have been through the fire and part of that (Mt. Vernon) sectional championship team, they made the plays, got the 50-50 balls and hit free throws,” Rogers said, noting the long-time success of the Marauders program under the 20-plus years of coach Shelton. “When you have so many unforced errors (six fourth-quarter turnovers), it’s hard to win those games. We’re eight games in. We’re still trying to build that, have poise, and value the ball. Hopefully down the road we’ll be able to see them again in the sectional and get another shot at them.”
Minch led all scorers with 16 points. Laffey finished with 15. Patterson scored nine.
Pendleton Heights was led by sisters Whitney Warfel, a senior, and Kaycie Warfel, a sophomore, with 12 points each. Shelton scored eight.
Mt. Vernon improved to 6-3 overall. Pendleton Heights dropped to 5-3 in all contests.
“This is a really big win for the conference,” Shelton said. “This year, in my opinion, our conference is a lot more wide open. I think Shelbyville is a lot better. They about got Pendleton in a one-point game. New Pal is still good. Yorktown, Greenfield are a little better. I think there might be several upsets in conference play. Every big win you can get helps.”
Both teams are back in action tonight in non-conference games. The Marauders host Anderson. Pendleton Heights is scheduled to travel to Hamilton Southeastern.
Mt. Vernon 50, Pendleton Heights 38
Mt. Vernon;8;11;11;20;—;50
Pendleton Heights;14;8;12;4;—;38
Mt. Vernon (6-3, 1-0): Ellery Minch 4 6-7 16, Easton Wampler 2 0-1 4, Khloe Patterson 2 5-11 9, Kaitlyn Laffey 5 2-4 15, Kanyonrae Kenny 1 3-3 6, Reagan Britt 0 0-0 0, Samantha Mrnak 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 16-26 50.
Pendleton Heights (5-3, 3-1): Whitney Warfel 5 0-1 12, Ava Kate Phillips 0 0-0 0, Berkley Shelton 4 0-1 8, Olivia Jones 0 2-3 2, Kaycie Warfel 3 5-7 12, Skylar Baldwin 0 0-0 0, Mikala Ross 1 0-0 2, Tra’Mya Herndon 0 0-0 0, MaKayla Morrison 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 7-12 38.
3-point goals: Mt. Vernon 6 (Laffey 3, Minch 2, Kenny); Pendleton Heights 3 (W. Warfel 2, K. Warfel).
