FORTVILLE — Last year’s quadruple-overtime classic looked to be a distant memory just minutes into Friday night’s county clash.
The Mt. Vernon Marauders, who outlasted Hancock County rival Greenfield-Central last year, 96-91 in four overtimes, scored the first 11 points of Friday’s game held a 12-point lead after the first quarter.
That’s when the Cougars clawed right back. The visitors erased almost the entire deficit by halftime as the teams traded three-point quarters in the opening half.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryIt wasn’t quite the four-overtime marathon of a year ago, but what looked like it could become a blowout early turned into a typical rivalry game of runs and intensity.
The Marauders were able to pull away late in the third quarter and hold on in the fourth quarter, staving off a comeback bid by their county rivals for a 51-44 home win Friday.
“We’ve got guys that want to win, so even when they got down, they didn’t give up,” Mt. Vernon coach Ben Rhoades said. “Greenfield made us do some things that we didn’t want to do. That’s good coaching on their part. But we have players that are resilient. We did what it takes to win.”
The Marauders jumped to their early lead as the Cougars struggled to find the basket. Greenfield-Central finally got on the board with less than two minutes left in the first off a Jacob Cochran 3-pointer.
Marauders senior Max Burhenn had blocks on two of the Cougars’ first four shot attempts, keeping the visitors scoreless and helping the Marauders open a 15-3 lead after one quarter.
That didn’t deter the Cougars at all.
“We just never quit. It’s just our mindset,” Greenfield-Central forward Gavin Rose said. “We’ve been in games like this all year where we’re scratching, clawing, we’re fighting back. We just stay in it. We just fight. That’s our attitude.”
The Cougars sparked to life, making two early threes in the second quarter while holding the hosts to just three points in the frame, trimming the deficit to 18-15 at the half.
The visitors scored the first four points of the second half to take a 19-18 lead, the first and only time Mt. Vernon trailed in the game. But a Peyton Meadors 3-pointer and Keith Rupert jumper put the Marauders back out front.
“Those first three minutes of the second half were huge,” Meadors said. “After they made that run, I looked at (my teammates) and told ‘em, ‘Hey, we’re fine. This is our house. We got the crowd.’ We overcame that adversity. Everybody played together in the second half really well, I thought. I thought the whole team played together, stayed positive.”
Mt. Vernon quickly opened another double-digit lead. The Cougars almost as quickly fought right back.
Like they have so many times this season, the Cougars (2-10, 0-3 Hoosier Heritage Conference) simply ran out of time in their comeback attempt.
Meadors led all scorers with 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting, making all seven of his free throw attempts and adding six rebounds and a pair of assists.
Rose led the way for the Cougars, dominating the offensive glass and earning himself the game’s only double-double. The junior finished with a team-high 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive end.
Cochran was the other Cougars player to get into double digits on points, scoring 11 in the loss.
“I come into every contest and I want to take over,” Rose said. “I feel like I excel at rebounding, I feel like that’s my strength. I’ve got to have every one, that’s my mindset. I’ve got to have every rebound. If I’m going to score, I’m going to get it off a putback, get an and-one.”
Rose said he felt like, despite the loss, his team took another positive step in the right direction.
“We took a big step forward tonight. This was a really good team,” Rose said. “They are top 50 in the state for sure, and they’re probably going to make a run in that sectional. This was a huge step for us. I think we got better tonight.”
Despite the 27 points from Meadors, both the senior standout and his coach said it was a total team effort that got the Marauders (7-2, 4-0) the big county and conference win.
Cade Gentry added eight points and five rebounds. Rupert had six points and three big fourth-quarter assists. Brandon Bell added six points. Burhenn had the two big blocks and some key rebounds.
“Our seniors didn’t want to lose to Greenfield at the end of the day, their senior year at home,” Rhoades said. “Yes, Peyton got some of those points, but at the same time we had Cade Gentry step up and hit some shots, Keith handled the ball well, Max got some great rebounds. That was hands down a team effort. When we play as a team like we did in the second half, we’ll be fine.”
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While the Cougars and Marauders were squaring off, the other two Hancock County boys basketball teams both took to the road for Friday night contests.
Delta 64, New Palestine 48
New Palestine fell to 5-3 on the year with a big Hoosier Heritage Conference defeat on the road.
Wapahani 51, Eastern Hancock 46
Eastern Hancock fell to 5-5 this season with a road conference loss.
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Mt. Vernon 51, Greenfield-Central 44
Greenfield-Central;3;12;10;19;—;44
Mt. Vernon;15;3;16;17;—;51
Greenfield-Central (2-10, 0-3): Jacob Cochran 4 0-0 11, Brady Mundell 1 3-4 5, Caleb Mundell 2 0-0 4, Gavin Rose 4 5-7 13, Chris O’Connor 1 0-0 3, Caleb McIntire 0 0-1 0, Sam Hunt 3 0-0 8, Gavin Robertson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 8-12 44.
Mt. Vernon (7-2, 4-0): Peyton Meadors 9 7-7 27, Cade Gentry 3 1-2 8, Keith Rupert 2 2-2 7, Brandon Bell 3 0-1 6, Max Burhenn 0 0-0 0, Eric Heard 0 0-0 0, Evan Barr 0 0-0 0, Ryan Morris 1 1-1 3, Jacob Frank 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 11-13 51.
3-point goals: Greenfield-Central 6 (Cochran 3, Hunt 2, O’Connor), Mt. Vernon 4 (Meadors 2, Gentry, Rupert).
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