RICHMOND — The first quarter was the cushion the Marauders needed.
And, they really needed it.
Opening their bid to capture the school’s first sectional title since 2018, the Marauders led 15-0 after the opening period against Richmond, the host school for Class 4A Sectional 9, in a tournament quarterfinal game Wednesday at Tiernan Center.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe Red Devils outscored the Marauders in each of the final three quarters chopping away at the lead — getting as close as five points — before the Marauders hung on for a 40-34 victory.
Mt. Vernon (15-6) moves on to the semifinal round and an 8 p.m. Friday date with Hancock County and Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Greenfield-Central, a 72-59 winner over another county and conference adversary New Palestine —which had won the last two sectional tournaments.
“I’d say the first quarter was one of the top quarters we have played defensively all year and we shared the ball well. We had four assists in the first quarter,” Mt. Vernon coach Ben Rhoades said. “I thought our defense slacked off in the second quarter and I don’t think we shared the ball quite as well as we did in the first quarter.
“At the end of the day this is about advancing one game at a time. They cut it to five and we made the plays we had to. We missed some free throws that would have made it a lot more comfortable. We’ll have to play a lot better Friday if we want to advance to Saturday.”
Mt. Vernon’s good start was a little bit of everyone doing a little bit of everything.
Junior post player Razhaun Wells opened the game with a perimeter jumper then made a good inside move for a 4-0 MV lead. Junior guard Armon Jarrard scored off of a turnover. Drew Walker, the lone senior starter, hit a 3-pointer, and no quarter — or it seems — ends without a dunk from junior Amhad Jarrard. Cooper Galli, a junior guard, followed with a bucket before two Wells free throws.
All five starters scored in the opening period.
“We are at our best when we are like we were in the first quarter,” Rhoades said. “Meaning, we shared the ball and we got easy buckets. I bet we only took one or two contested shots.”
Mt. Vernon hit 6 of 11 field-goal attempts (54.5 percent) in the opening period. Richmond went 0 of 10 and had six turnovers.
“We played good defense and it led to our offense and it got our confidence up,” Amhad Jarrard said.
As expected, no tourney game goes without a run from the opponent.
Richmond’s Stephan Douglas scored 13 seconds into the second quarter for the home team’s first points. By the half, the Red Devils had cut it to 19-7.
When Red Devil junior guard Darion Smith hit a 3-pointer with 4:16 remaining in the game, the Marauder advantage had dwindled to five, 34-29.
“We knew they didn’t have a lot of size, but we knew they would be very fast and athletic,” Rhoades said. “They knocked down some shots when we didn’t close out on shooters when we needed to.
“In the tournament, there are going to be runs all the time. No matter the score, you’re going to have to weather some of those. We were fortunate they were not able to get it closer to five. Credit them for staying after it. We recovered and I’m proud of us and I’m glad we’re in the Final Four of the sectional.”
Amhad Jarrard put the finishing touches on the win with two fourth-quarter dunks. In transition, and on a pass from hisbrother Armon Jarrard, Amhad’s rim-shaker made it 38-29 with 2:13 to go. He threw down another with authority for the next two points of the game at the 1:17 mark, giving MV a 40-29 lead.
Amhad Jarrard led Mt. Vernon scorers with 16 points. Wells added 10. Armon Jarrard scored seven and had 10 rebounds.
Douglas had 16 for the Red Devils, including nine in the third quarter and 13 in the second half. Smith had eight and Tim Arnold scored seven.
Richmond finished its season 10-10.
“We always have to play to the end,” Amhad Jarrard added on a lesson-learned in Wednesday’s tourney opener. “We can’t just let up after the first quarter. (The other team) can always come back.”
