FORTVILLE — With 1 minute, 47 seconds left on the clock Thursday night, Mt. Vernon head coach Julie Shelton pulled her last two starters from the floor.
Fittingly, they were Marauders seniors Sydnee Perry and Tessa Freeman.
Old enough to witness the Mt. Vernon girls’ basketball team’s Hoosier Heritage Conference championship dominance from 2011-15 but not quite old enough to be a part of it, the duo finally made their mark and the home crowd showered both with appreciation.
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Needing to win out to clinch the HHC outright, the Class 4A No. 8 Marauders completed their mission, defeating HHC foe Delta 53-26 in their regular-season finale to claim the team’s 21st straight victory and first league title since 2014-15.
“I saw coach Shelton coach a state team (in 2012-13), and I dreamed about this my whole life. Me and Sydnee have been together since kindergarten, so being with her and finishing like that was amazing,” Freeman said.
The Marauders’ longest winning streak in program history secured their first HHC outright title in five years and coach Shelton’s first since Mt. Vernon tied for the championship with Greenfield-Central and Pendleton Heights in 2013-14.
Mt. Vernon has secured the HHC title outright five times in the past 10 years, including three times under Shelton’s watch, but this time required more than skill. It demanded unity.
Not having lost a game since Nov. 9 of last year, the Marauders swept through the HHC but faced adversity down the stretch.
On Tuesday night, the Marauders rallied in the fourth quarter to upend rival New Castle 72-62 after trailing by one entering the final frame.
Against Delta (4-16, 1-6 HHC), the Marauders (22-1, 7-0 HHC) established a 13-point lead before halftime only to see it shrink to four points, 24-20 in the third quarter.
Then, Lexi Shelton stepped up.
The team’s leading scorer drained three consecutive 3-pointers. Freeman added a jumper, and Perry chipped in a layup in transition to open it up 37-20. Abby Worley capped the 15-0 run to end the third quarter with a steal and a bucket with 1:31 remaining.
“We had to pull together on the court but more off the court. We’ve played together since we were in the second grade, and we’re sisters. Sometimes, it’s like we’re sisters, and we fight like that,” Freeman said. “So, when we can get that right off the court, we’re great.”
The Marauders’ lead grew to 31 points late in the fourth quarter as they moved on from a lackluster seven-point second quarter towards a 31-point second half.
Worley quarterbacked the offense with nine assists and finished with six steals. Perry and Freeman each had seven points with a combined seven steals, four assists and nine rebounds.
Shelton scored a game-high 28 points on 6 of 11 shooting from 3-point range and 10 of 21 from the floor overall. She posted a double-double with 11 rebounds, while Olivia Yeley had three points and three rebounds to round out the starting five’s collective contributions.
“It means everything. I’ve played three years here, and we’ve come close, but (the HHC) has never been a reality,” Freeman said. “We’ve been pushing through, and Tuesday kind of gave us a scare, but we pulled it through. We got it.”
The Marauders’ patented defense was the key, once again, resulting in Delta’s 10 points in the second half and nine or fewer in each quarter.
Delta had 22 turnovers and didn’t have a single player reach double figures.
“We have kids that love to play and compete. We’ve struggled a little bit here late, but that’s what’s awesome about this team,” Julie Shelton said. “Somebody always seems to step up when we have to have them.
“It’s been a while since we’ve won a conference, at least for me, so that’s always something you want to be able to do, and it’s a touch conference. We’ve had some battles this year. I’m super proud of them for winning that.”
But, the Marauders aren’t done yet.
With the first hurdle cleared, they now turn their attention on the state tournament and rival New Palestine this Wednesday in the Sectional 9 tournament.
Mt. Vernon defeated New Palestine 44-25 in the regular-season, but that’s in the past.
“It’s 0-0. It’s game time now,” Shelton said. “All of that is nice, but you really play for the tournament, and we have to regroup, refocus and realize that everybody is 0-0 now. We’ve got to go.”
