GREENFIELD — Friday night’s matchup between Greenfield-Central and Mt. Vernon had big conference implications for the Cougars.
A win would’ve kept them on track to split the Hoosier Heritage Conference title.
But the Marauders had different plans.
They played spoiler in the conference and Hancock County rivalry, defeating the Cougars 48-41 at Dellen Automotive Gymnasium.
“It’s a good learning experience. We haven’t had games this late in the season against Mt. Vernon that have meant something. Tonight it did. It stinks that we let this one slip away,” Greenfield-Central head coach Bradley Key said. “I feel like we can play with them, we can play with New Pal and Pendleton and Richmond and Anderson and Muncie Central, so I think anyone has a shot at the sectional. It stinks we let the conference co-lead slip, but being able to compete with those teams is what you’re looking for at this point in the season.”
For Mt. Vernon, the win was much more than just a wrench in the Cougars season goals. It was a confidence-building win as the season comes to a close.
“This one is very big. We’ve struggled a lot of the year as our record shows. We’ve had some injuries and some things not go our way, and we’ve lost a lot of close games,” Mt. Vernon head coach Julie Shelton said. “We’ve had trouble finishing all year, so it was good that they put our backs against the wall again and we were able to finish this time.”
In a game that the Marauders controlled for the majority of, a late fourth-quarter push by Greenfield-Central made the final minutes closer than expected.
Five straight Kanyonrae Kenny points to close out the third and open the fourth quarter pushed the Mt. Vernon lead to 37-23 before the Cougars began their charge back.
A 15-4 G-C run trimmed the lead down to just three with a minute to play.
“We were just turning it over. We panic with the basketball and we’ve got to get better with that,” Shelton said. “When we turn it over, we forget to play defense too, so it’s a double-edged sword, but I thought we played really well for three quarters.”
Madison Sonsini began the run with a free throw before Brooklyn McConnell and Chaney Brown knocked down 3-pointers.
After a Kenny free throw, Izzy Silcox buried a trey and Sonsini and Brown hit free throws to make it 40-37.
“I’m proud of our kids for not giving up. We were down 14 at one point and were able to cut it to three, so good for us for not giving up,” Key said. “We just have to make sure that we’re playing hard and smart for 32 minutes, not for only half the game.”
Kenny and Kaitlyn Laffey free throws grew the lead back up to seven, but McConnell buried a deep 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to trim the lead back down to 45-41.
A pair of Easton Wampler free throws, and a Reagan Britt free throw after a Cougars turnover sealed the Mt. Vernon win.
While the Marauders were out in front for most of the game, it was the Cougars jumping out to a quick 9-0 lead to start the game.
Silcox and McConnell knocked down 3s to kickstart the run, but after that, the Cougars hot hands from deep went cold. They missed their next 12 3-pointers of the half to let the Marauders take the lead.
The Cougars were held scoreless for the final four minutes of the first quarter and were limited to just five points in the second period.
“We started off hot, and then couldn’t really buy a bucket. Part of that is that coach Shelton does a really good job with her kids and they make it hard for you to get into the lane. You’re going to have to hit shots to beat them, and we went a long drought without scoring,” Key said. “We did miss some open shots, especially ones that we normally hit at home. But when you’re not hitting shots, you have to be able to do some other things. That’s one of the better coaches in Indiana, and you know that they’re going to make adjustments.”
Behind the strong defense, Shelton’s squad reeled off a 16-0 run behind seven second-quarter points from Ellery Minch.
By halftime, the lead had grown to eight and by the end of the third, the Marauders were in front by 12.
“We just relaxed. This group has a tendency to have stretches like the beginning of the game or the fourth quarter,” Shelton said. “We have segments where we just struggle, but they will typically find good stretches as well.”
Kenny led Mt. Vernon with 13 points, while both Minch and Wampler added 11.
The Cougars were led by Brown’s 11 and McConnell’s 10 points.
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Mt. Vernon 48, Greenfield-Central 41
Mt. Vernon;8;14;13;13;—;48
Greenfield-Central;9;5;9;18;—;41
Mt. Vernon (8-13, 2-3): Ellery Minch 4 2-2 11, Kanyonrae Kenny 3 5-6 13 Easton Wampler 3 2-2 11, Kaitlyn Laffey 0 2-2 2, Reagan Britt 0 2-4 2, Gabby Thomas 2 0-0 5, Addison Bucksot 2 0-0 4, Katelyn Hawkins 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 13-16 48.
Greenfield-Central (15-6, 4-2): Chaney Brown 2 5-6 11, Madison Sonsini 0 5-8 5, Brooklyn McConnell 3 1-2 10, Izzy Silcox 3 0-0 8 Jalyn Smith 3 1-3 7, Addi Herrin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 12-19 41.
3-point goals: Mt. Vernon 7 (Wampler 3, Kenny 2, Minch, Thomas); Greenfield-Central 7 (McConnell 3, Silcox 2, Brown 2).
