Mt. Vernon’s Amhad Jarrard (32) tries to drive to the basket against Zionsville’s Edward Thomas (5) during their game at Mt. Vernon High School on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021.
Rob Baker | Daily Reporter
HANCOCK COUNTY — The temperatures outside are dropping, but the conference season in boys basketball is heating up.
At a perfect 3-0 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference, the defending co-league champion Class 4A Mt. Vernon Marauders are looking to bounce back while also maintaining their slim advantage in the standings at rival 4A Greenfield-Central (4-5, 1-1 HHC) tonight.
The Marauders (6-2) enjoyed a six-game stretch prior to the new calendar year by winning each contest after dropping their season opener at 4A No. 2 Fishers, 65-59, on Dec. 4.
Their highlight victory of the 2021 portion of their season schedule — and sixth consecutive win — unfolded on their home court against formerly, top-ranked Zionsville, 44-41, on Dec. 28.
The Marauders won the game on a buzzer-beating, walk-off 3-pointer by senior guard Amhad Jarrard, an IUPUI commit, which propelled them into the state’s 4A rankings.
In this week’s The Associated Press 4A boys basketball rankings, Mt. Vernon came in at 13th. The Marauders also slid into the 18th spot in this week’s Indiana Basketball Coaches Association’s top-20 poll. The Zionsville Eagles dropped to third in the AP poll, and Carmel jumped to No. 1 ahead of Fishers.
The Marauders’ run ended at 4A No. 7 Westfield, 87-78, on Tuesday night, however, as the Shamrocks rolled to their fifth straight win, including the 2021 Hall of Fame Classic title, behind a game-high 30 points from Purdue recruit Braden Smith.
Mt. Vernon is searching for its first win of 2022, while the Cougars are aiming to snap a three-game losing streak that began after pulling even in the HHC with a 72-65 overtime win at home Dec. 17 against Yorktown.
Greenfield-Central was 4-2 following its last victory, but a 50-47 loss at 3A Lawrenceburg, a 55-35 setback at 3A No. 10 Connersville and a 49-46 loss at home to 2A No. 7 Eastern Hancock has them in need of a win.
“We’ve lost three in a row. Lawrenceburg was undefeated (at the time). Connersville was the No. 1 team in the state (at the time), and Eastern Hancock is fourth in the state in defense. They’re a really good team. I don’t care if they’re 2A, 3A, 4A, whatever. And it doesn’t get any easier. We have Mt. Vernon coming to our place and then we have New Castle and Richmond. That’s the beauty of 4A basketball,” Greenfield-Central head coach Luke Meredith remarked after the Eastern Hancock loss.
A victory tonight at home against the Marauders wouldn’t just help the Cougars course correct, it could tighten up what has been a tight HHC race.
Greenfield-Central is currently tied for third in the standings with New Palestine (6-3, 1-1 HHC), who hosts league foe Delta (4-6, 0-1 HHC) tonight at 7:30 p.m. Delta shared the conference title with Mt. Vernon in 2020-21.
New Castle (7-2, 2-1 HHC), which Mt. Vernon beat on the road, 63-52, on Dec. 23, is tied with Yorktown (4-4, 2-1 HHC) for second in the standings.
The Cougars will face their second-straight HHC opponent on Jan. 14 at home against New Castle in the first half of its back-to-back weekend, which ends at home against Richmond on Jan. 15.
The Marauders are averaging 68.4 points per game and allowing 56.4 with two 80-point games and four of 70 points or more.
Fellow IUPUI recruit, senior Armon Jarrard leads the Marauders in scoring at 16.3 ppg, followed closely by his twin, Amhad, with 16.1 ppg. Ray Wells is averaging 10.3 ppg. The 6-foot-3 senior easily surpassed that number against Westfield by finishing with 17 points.
Armon Jarrard had 19 points and six assists in the Westfield loss. Amhad posted a team-high 20 points in the defeat to give Mt. Vernon four players in double figures. Senior Avery Williams added 15 points off the bench.
Greenfield-Central junior Dylan Moles is leading the team with 16.3 ppg. Frosh Braylon Mullins is averaging 12.9 ppg. Senior Joey Roland is contributing 7.6 ppg and a team-best 4.7 rebounds per contest.
Mt. Vernon holds a 29-21 series advantage over Greenfield-Central in the past 35 years and won the last meeting, 62-37, on March 5, 2021 during the sectional tournament. The Marauders have won two in a row against the Cougars. Greenfield-Central’s last win against Mt. Vernon was in 2019-20 at home, 44-39, on Jan. 10.
Royals continue to climb rankings
The Class 2A Eastern Hancock boys basketball team picked up its sixth straight win on Thursday, Dec. 30, over visiting Daleville, 87-43, to improve its season record to 7-1.
Their recent winning wave has garnered some notice with the Royals breaking into this week’s The Associated Press top-10 in 2A. The Royals are ranked seventh in 2A and are 2-0 in the Mid-Eastern Conference after their home win over Daleville.
They will look to potentially break the MEC’s three-way tie for first tonight at home against 2A Wapahani at 7:30 p.m. The Royals are deadlocked with 2A No. 5 Monroe Central (8-0, 2-0 MEC) and Wapahani (7-2, 2-0 MEC) atop the conference.
Eastern Hancock is 4-0 against 2A foes this season and 4-0 at home with its only loss at 4A New Palestine, 44-41, on Dec. 3. They defeated 4A Greenfield-Central, 49-46, on the road Dec. 28.
Girls Basketball
Royals’ winning streak ends
The Class 2A eighth-ranked Eastern Hancock girls basketball team rode a nine-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s home Mid-Eastern Conference showdown with Class A No. 12 Blue River Valley.
Unfortunately, for the host Royals (12-2, 6-1 MEC) their run came to a close as the Vikings (12-2, 6-0 MEC) held on to win, 62-55, for their 10th consecutive victory.
The Vikings have three more MEC games left this season at Union (Modoc) (1-5 MEC) on Jan. 11 and at Randolph Southern (3-3 MEC) on Jan. 18 before ending at home on Jan. 27 against Monroe Central (4-1 MEC).
The Royals have a pair of conference contests remaining, including a home game against Daleville (0-5 MEC) on Jan. 20 and a road game at Randolph Southern on Jan. 25.
Eastern Hancock trailed Blue River, 13-6, after the first quarter on Tuesday and faced a 26-22 deficit at halftime before outscoring the Vikings 36-33 in the second half.
Grace Stapleton paced the Royals with a team-high 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting. She buried 4 of 7 shots from beyond the arc and hauled in four rebounds with two assists.
Sammie Bolding had 14 points, while Brooklyn Willis, Sydney Springman and Emma Bolding each added six points. Ruby White had five points.
Springman (4-for-4), Willis (2-for-2), White (1-for-2), Sammie Bolding (6-for-10) and Emma Bolding (2-for-2) combined to go 15 of 20 from the free-throw line.
White and Makenzie O’Neal had six rebounds each. Emma Bolding posted a team-high nine. Sammie Bolding had four with a team-best three assists. Bolding and White both finished with three steals.
The Royals return to the court on Saturday at home against 2A Union County at 7:30 p.m.
Dragons fall to Tigers
The New Palestine girls basketball team dropped a 69-43 decision at Class 4A No. 6 Fishers on Wednesday.
The Dragons are now 9-7 on the season.
Isabella Gizzi led the Dragons with 25 points, tallying 21 after halftime. She was 8 of 8 from the free-throw line and hit eight field goals, including a 3-pointer.
The Dragons fell behind 22-9 after a quarter as the Tigers hit four 3-pointers in the opening frame. Alaina Miller scored five of the Dragons’ points.
Fishers pushed the lead to 36-16 at halftime, with Rachel Kelley scoring five of the Dragons’ seven points in the quarter.
Gizzi scored 11 points in the third quarter, but the Dragons trailed 56-27 going into the final frame. Gizzi scored 12 points in the fourth quarter.
In addition to Gizzi’s 25, Alaina Miller and Rachel Kelley added seven points each. Allie Blum added four.
