By Rich Torres | Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — Nothing comes easy when the Mt. Vernon Marauders and Greenfield-Central Cougars collide, and Friday night was no exception.
The Marauders came in seeking some revenge against one of their top Hoosier Heritage Conference rivals, and they established an early double-digit lead to give them a chance.
But, the feisty Cougars cut the deficit by one and two possessions before the Marauders held them off from the foul line late to win 57-52 at home.
The victory put the Marauders up 28-21 in their overall series against the Cougars the past 35 years and improved their HHC record to 2-0.
“One of our goals is obviously to win the conference. Now, we’re 2-0,” Mt. Vernon head coach Ben Rhoades said. “In the fourth quarter, we only hit four field goals, but that’s OK because we did the things we needed to do to hold on. Our free-throw shooting was really good.”
The Marauders (5-2) lost to Greenfield-Central last year during the regular season, 44-39, and the Cougars did their best to make it two straight behind eight 3-pointers.
The Cougars (6-5, 1-2 HHC) led from the opening tip 3-0 after an Adam Lester trey and chipped away at a 22-10 Marauders’ lead in the second quarter from long range.
Dylan Moles scored a game-high 17 points with four 3-pointers and Lester finished with 14 points and a pair of 3s.
The Marauders countered with size, especially with Greenfield-Central 6-foot junior Joey Roland sidelined with an ankle injury.
Mt. Vernon’s Razhaun Wells, who stands 6-3, muscled inside for eight of his team-high 16 points in the first quarter, and the Marauders put together a 7-1 run in the second to go ahead by 12 points with 3 minutes, 28 seconds left in the first half.
Greenfield-Central ended the first half with a 5-0 run to narrow the gap, 24-19, and a Moles’ 3-pointer in the third quarter with 3:55 left, sliced Mt. Vernon’s advantage 30-27.
The Cougars led twice in the game’s first four minutes, but they couldn’t get any closer than three points once the Marauders pulled ahead.
“I thought we really struggled in the first quarter. We just couldn’t hit a shot. We were getting great looks,” Greenfield-Central head coach Luke Meredith said. “I just felt like we needed a timely basket just to give us an opportunity. We were always just one play away. We just couldn’t seem to make it.”
After Moles made the game a one-possession tug-of-war, Wells responded with an and-1 play, followed by 1 of 2 free throws from Eli Bridenthal.
Wells added five rebounds and Bridenthal had 12 points and six rebounds. Of his 12 points, Bridenthal poured in nine in the fourth quarter.
“According to the Sagarin ratings, which don’t mean much, we were picked to lose by 24 points tonight. This is a team coming in that’s 4-2, but look at their losses (Lawrence Central and Westfield),” Meredith said. “In my opinion, they are the team to beat in the county, in our conference and in our sectional. Them with New Pal, and once again, they’re what we want to be.”
The Cougars proved their aren’t a team to overlook, charging back from another Mt. Vernon 9-2 run and 43-31 lead in the fourth.
Down 44-33, Gavin Robertson, buried a 3-pointer to go with his team-best six assists, and Caleb McIntire hit another trey with 2:42 remaining for the team’s seventh and a 46-39 deficit.
The margin shrank to 50-45 after a Lester steal and layup with 1:25 left, but the Marauders were efficient from 15 feet, converting 15 of 17 free throws in the fourth and 21 of 24 overall.
“We work on free throws, obviously, every day. We made the shots we had to. Greenfield is the type of team, this year, they’re very young. They’re learning and getting better. Coach is doing a great job with them,” Rhoades said. “My fear was if they hung around, and it would be a two-possession game, and you don’t hit a couple of free throws, or you make some turnovers, it can change the game.”
The Marauders didn’t loose hold.
Amhad Jarrard had nine points on 3 of 3 shooting. He was 3-for-4 from the foul line. Cooper Galli was the closer, going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 39 seconds to contribute eight points for the Marauders.
Drew Walker had five points for Mt. Vernon, who next travels to Whiteland tonight.
The Cougars face HHC foe New Castle next week Friday on the road where they intend to be potentially at full-strength.
Against the Marauders, McIntire had six points and Will VanDuyn had six. The Cougars shot 45 percent from the field.
“Teams struggle with us because we don’t give up. We can make shots and we play hard. That’s a great combination,” Meredith said. “I’m proud of the way we competed. Losing Joey Roland on Wednesday definitely hurt. He’s a starter. Hopefully, he’ll be back next week when we play New Castle.”
