FORTVILLE — If any play encapsulated the night for Mt. Vernon and New Castle on Tuesday night, it was early in the fourth quarter.
New Castle Trojans’ junior guard Cameron Tabor let a 3-pointer go, it bounced on the rim four times and the backboard once before it dropped in. It was just that kind of night for the Marauders, as they fell to the visiting Trojans 86-66.
The first quarter was played evenly as both teams were trading baskets with each other at a blistering pace. After Mt. Vernon took an early lead, Tabor scored New Castle’s first 10 points in rapid succession, forcing an early Mt. Vernon timeout. Tabor would go on to score 45 points in the game, breaking her school record of 44 from last year.
“She’s a great player that’s for sure,” Marauders coach Julie Shelton said afterwards. “Nothing we really tried worked on defense.”
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Scoring to keep the Marauders in the game were Lexi Shelton, Sydney Perry, and Sophie Williams, who finished with 20, 14, and nine points respectively.
Still, coach Shelton would like to see a solid effort on both ends of the floor.
“We’ve got to understand that when we score 66 points, we should be winning the game by 15 points,” she said.
The Trojans put on a press defense in the second quarter and used it to hold Mt. Vernon to nine points in the quarter and open up a lead they would never relinquish.
It was, again, just that kind of night for the Marauders, but Shelton believes there is a lesson to be taken out the loss.
“This season we’ve either played well on defense but not on offense or vice versa. If we focus on playing well on both ends of the floor we’ve got a great chance to win every game,” she said.
The loss drops Mt. Vernon to 9-12 overall and 3-3 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference. The Marauders will have a chance to finish in the top half of the conference in the final game of their regular season when they host Delta on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.
