FORTVILLE — Unfortunately for the Mt. Vernon Marauders, the 2020-21 girls basketball season started much like the previous season ended.
Coming in with a 21-game winning streak and a No. 7 state-ranking, Mt. Vernon was upset by New Palestine in last year’s sectional opener.
In the regular-season opener, at home, Thursday against Franklin, the Marauders, No. 12 in the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association preseason poll, let a 12-point fourth-quarter lead slip away in a 59-52 overtime loss to the Grizzly Cubs.
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Franklin’s Kuryn Brunson hit two free throws with 2.9 seconds left in regulation to tie the game, 49-49.
The Grizzly Cubs scored the first five points of the extra session and got seven from Brunson in the period to knock off the hosts.
“They’re a good team, had a lot of offensive threats and had a nice game,” Mt. Vernon coach Julie Shelton said of the Grizzly Cubs. “(Brunson is) a very good athlete and we let her get going downhill and penetrate against us. We did a good job of containing her in the third quarter. We just let her get space (in the fourth quarter and overtime).”
Brunson finished with a game-high 23 points, 17 came in the fourth quarter and overtime.
The Marauders return three starters — Lexi Shelton, Oliva Yeley and Abby Worley — from last year’s 22-2 team, as well as sixth-man Riley Hasseld.
They also have juniors Maddie Swingle and Shay Shipley back on the roster from their 2019 sectional championship team. Neither played last season.
Mt. Vernon graduated veterans Sydney Perry and Tess Freeman and their presence, especially on the defensive end, was sorely missed on Thursday.
Perry and Freeman were wing players, and they did a lot of the guarding of the other team’s top-outside shooters.
“We have four kids back, but we’re trying to find the pieces (to replace Perry and Freeman),” coach Shelton said. “Especially, defensively, Sydney was a four-year player and Tess was a three-year varsity player. They just knew our matchup zone … We’ve got to get a couple kids comfortable in that position.”
“I think it’s going to take us a little while to jell and get some new pieces. We missed a couple shots, a couple free throws, didn’t take advantage a couple of times on our steals and left shooters open again.”
In overtime, Mt. Vernon got within three points twice, but Brunson finished it off by scoring the final four points.
The Mt. Vernon defense was clicking to start the second half. It quickly turned a two-point halftime deficit into a five-point lead.
The Marauders held Franklin without a third-quarter field goal and outscored the Grizzly Cubs 11-4 in the period. Franklin committed three early turnovers. The Marauders took advantage, scoring the first seven points of the half.
Lexi Shelton hit a 3-pointer to give Mt. Vernon the lead. Ellery Minch and Worley each got buckets after turnovers for a 35-30 Marauder lead.
The lead grew to 12 in the fourth quarter. Mt. Vernon went on a 9-0 run, getting a bucket from Shipley, two from Yeley and a 3-pointer from Hasseld.
It was 46-34 before Franklin’s Lauren Klem hit a 3-pointer at the 6:08 mark. It was the Grizzly Cubs first field goal of the second half and started a 9-0 run for the visitors.
The game went back-and-forth the entire first half. There were five ties and nine lead changes. A 5-0 Mt. Vernon lead one minute into the game was the largest lead of the half.
Franklin had a trio of three-point leads. The biggest run of the half was a 7-0 blast from the Marauders.
Down 19-16, Lexi Shelton hit back-to-back buckets. A quick Grizzly Cub turnover ended in an easy lay-in for Hasseld to give the hosts a 22-19 advantage with 5:25 left until the break.
The second quarter ended much like the first. Klem hit a 3-pointer with 23 seconds to go to give the Grizzly Cubs a 30-28 lead.
Franklin had a well-balanced attack with six players scoring. Baker led with seven. Scarlett Kimbrell and Klem each had six and Erica Buening scored five. Shelton led all players at the intermission with 13.
Freshman Buening hit a 3-pointer late in the first period to give Franklin a 16-13 advantage. Shelton had six in the quarter and went over 1,000 for her career. They stopped play to award Shelton the ball, which was presented to her by her mother and head coach.
“That was awesome and I’m super proud of her. She’s had a great career,” coach Shelton said.
Lexi Shelton led the Marauders with 16 points. Yeley had 11. Off the bench, Maddie Swingle scored seven points.
The outcome was unfortunate for the Marauders, but the good news is they know how to fix it.
“We’ve got to get better at recognizing our defensive jobs, talking to each other and talking to shooters and knowing our responsibilities,” coach Shelton said. “We did that in stretches and we did a terrible job of that in stretches. Defensively, that’s what Mt. Vernon has won on for years and we’ve got to figure out. That was way too many points and defensive mistakes for a Mt. Vernon team.”
