WESTFIELD — When you play as tough of a schedule as Mt. Vernon has over the past few weeks, you learn to find the good even in the losses.
For first-year head coach Joe Bradburn, that begins with seeing his team grow, mature and find their identity as a team.
Those three things began to show at the Kokomo Memorial Tournament two weeks ago, but on Tuesday night at Westfield High School, in a 41-30 loss to the No. 3 ranked Shamrocks, the Marauders took maybe their biggest step in the right direction.
“They’re in the top five for a reason. They’re really good, and we knew points were going to be at a premium. We needed to hold our own defensively and we made it difficult on them as well,” Bradburn said. “I’m extremely pleased that for the first time against a top opponent, the guys followed the game plan and for most of the game we controlled the tempo. We just need to figure out how to finish it off against a team like this. They’re a little more senior-laden and have been in their system for a long time, but our guys went toe-to-toe with them, so I’m extremely proud about that.
“The fight and patience that we showed is something we’ve been working on since Day 1, and it finally showed. We just made some big strides tonight, so it’s frustrating to not come out with a win. With our schedule, these tough teams that we play are going to pay dividends down the stretch.”
With two teams entering the game averaging over 50 points per game, scoring was surprisingly hard to come.
Westfield was held to six first-half baskets and 12 points, while Mt. Vernon scored just 19 on eight made opening-half shots.
On the night, the Marauders offense was limited to just 11 made field goals.
“They’re long, strong and they body up and belly into you. We knew it was going to be a physical game and it was going to be tough. They always have hands up on shots and they talk really well,” Bradburn said. “All of that comes into play, so we knew that it would be a different test that some of our guys needed to see.”
Through the first 16 minutes, though, the Marauders fought harder than the Shamrocks on the defensive end and reeled off a 9-0 second-quarter run to take a lead into the break.
In an 8-8 game, Julien Smith started the MV run.
He fought his way in for a tough basket for the Mt. Vernon lead and found a cutting Tanner Teschendorf for another Marauders basket on the next possession.
After an offensive rebound, R’mani Wells buried a 3-pointer to put the Marauders up seven, and then a coast-to-coast layup by Teschendorf forced a Westfield timeout.
“It was just a mentality to find ways to get things done. We were beating people’s feet and getting in position. There was a toughness about our approach led by Brady [Fitzgerald],” Bradburn said. “We had guys in different roles and assignments and they all followed the game plan and all had a purpose. Those are things we’ve been working on that came to fruition tonight, so that shows that we’re maturing and heading in the right direction.”
In the second half, the Marauders answered the first big Westfield run, but couldn’t fight off the second push.
A 9-0 third-quarter run out of the break put the Shamrocks back ahead 21-19, but an Aden Daugherty basket and free throw, along with a few more hard-fought baskets were enough for the Marauders to regain the lead momentarily.
In the fourth, Westfield went to their strengths and gained control.
A Nic Book steal and dunk put Westfield ahead for good 29-28, and from there Book grew the lead single-handedly.
The 6-foot, 8-inch forward scored 10 of his game-high 14 points in the quarter.
“There were a couple of turnovers that we had, and they went into the high-low game with their big. We tried to adjust and didn’t quite get the adjustment that we wanted. Once they got the lead they controlled things a bit more and were able to put some pressure on us,” Bradburn said. “Both things were going their way in the fourth quarter. We knew the ebbs and flows of the game would change and we would need to make some adjustments. They went to their strengths when they needed to and we fought but just came up short.”
Mt. Vernon is back in action Friday against another ranked opponent. They take on Hancock County rival No. 8 Greenfield-Central on the road at 7:30 p.m.
–
Westfield 41, Mt. Vernon 30
Mt. Vernon;6;13;9;2;—;30
Westfield;6;6;13;16;—;41
Mt. Vernon (6-5): Julien Smith 3 4-4 10, Elijah Parra 1 2-2 4, Tanner Teschendorf 5 0-0 10, R’mani Wells 1 0-0 3, Brady Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0, Aden Daugherty 1 1-1 3, Ryker Baer 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 7-7 30.
Westfield (7-0): Trey Buchanan 1 0-0 2, Nic Book 6 2-2 14, Will Harvey 0 0-0 0, Caleb Wise 3 0-0 7, Durante Morton 3 2-2 8, Carsen Melvin 2 0-0 4, Charles Farrell 3 0-0 6. Totals: 18 4-4 41.
3-point goals: Mt. Vernon 1 (Wells); Westfield 1 (Wise).
