Mt. Vernon’s Khloe Patterson, left, and Addison Bucksot celebrate late in their game against Greenfield-Central on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. (Tom Russo/Daily Reporter)
GREENFIELD — Mt. Vernon had its usual squad on the floor, just not on the sidelines.
Without veteran head coach Julie Shelton — one of the state’s all-time winningest girls’ basketball coaches with 344 career victories — the Marauders (13-7, 4-1) were able to handle business in Friday’s contest with Hancock County and Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Greenfield-Central (7-12, 2-4) at Dellen Automotive Gymnasium.
Mt. Vernon had a 12-0 run in the first quarter and a 21-3 burst in the third on their way to a 64-30 victory.
According to MV assistant coach Tom Kirby, who was leading the charge on Friday, Shelton, out due to pandemic protocols, is expected to be back next week. She will also miss today’s game at East Central.
“I told these girls, when we knew Julie wasn’t going to be here, I cannot emulate Julie’s enthusiasm and her intensity to win,” Kirby said. “We’re on the right track to where we want to be for the sectional and we want to continue that. My purpose here was to get us to play good defense, and we held them to 11 first-half points.
“Our big key is making sure we talk to each other on defense and play defense together as a unit.”
Kirby also got some help, on the offensive side, from his coach on the floor, senior point guard Shay Shipley.
Shipley was crucial in the second-half run that broke the game wide open.
Two minutes into the second half, Greenfield-Central had cut the Mt. Vernon lead to 10, 27-17.
In the next four minutes Shipley hit a pair of 3s and also scored off a steal. She gave the Marauders plenty of breathing room, helping extend the lead to 40-20.
Shipley finished with 20 points. She hit 4 of 5 second-half treys and had 18 of her game-high total in the final two quarters. She scored 12 in the third quarter.
“It was completely different (without coach Shelton). All four years, I’ve never played without her,” Shipley said. “She’s a big part of our success and getting us to do what we do best. Playing without her felt off. I’m glad we had coach Kirby and coach (Kim) Clark here.
“(Coach Shelton) told me before the game I was the coach on the floor. That’s usually my role, but it was a bigger role without her here. It’s different being the coach on the floor without the coach on the sidelines.”
Shipley scored 12 points in the final three minutes of the third period to give Mt. Vernon a 48-20 advantage with just the final eight minutes remaining.
She hit two more 3s in the fourth quarter before Kirby took Shipley and the other regulars out of the ball game.
“I told her (when she came out) I didn’t want to shake her hand, it was too hot,” Kirby said. “I didn’t want to get burned.”
Shipley was one of three Mt. Vernon players to score in double figures. Ellery Minch and Madison Swingle did most of the first-half scoring. Minch had 13 of her 19 in the first two quarters. Swingle finished with 10, including six in the first half.
Both Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central came into Friday’s matchup playing some of their best basketball of the season.
With the IHSAA sectional draw on Sunday and Class 4A Sectional 9 — to be hosted at Mt. Vernon High School — the first week of February — Friday’s contest was a chance to continue moving forward in a positive direction.
Mt. Vernon’s victory was its third in a row and sixth in the last eight games. Greenfield-Central came in winners of two in a row, and had won six of eight prior to Friday’s loss.
The Cougars were without three regulars in their lineup and coach Bradley Key knew the game against the traditionally-strong Marauders would be quite a challenge.
“Their length (on defense) really caused us problems and we got a little sped up on offense,” Key said. “The score doesn’t look great, but I told the girls at halftime we’re doing things now that we couldn’t do at the beginning of the year.
“Our freshmen are doing a much better job than what they were in November, which is what you want to see. We’ve played some really good basketball lately, but this was a good basketball game for us to have going into the sectional. Sometimes you need to be humbled a little bit.”
Frosh Brooklyn McConnell hit four 3-pointers and led the Cougars with 12. Frosh Chaney Brown scored seven.
The Cougars have two more regular-season contests. They will finish HHC play Tuesday at Yorktown. The final game is at home, Thursday against Southport.
It was Mt. Vernon’s fourth-straight win over its county and conference rivals. They could meet again soon. On Sunday, the IHSAA will reveal the draw for the 2022 sectional which along with Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central includes HHC champion Pendleton Heights, New Palestine, Anderson, Richmond and Muncie Central.
Mt. Vernon, with just one league loss, will look to solidify second place in the HHC and continue playing well heading into post season play. Two of its final three games are conference contests. Following the Marauders last road game, today at East Central, they have two home games, Tuesday against New Castle, and Thursday versus Delta.
“We can function without (coach Shelton), but it’s going to be a lot better when Julie is here running the show,” Kirby added. “She sees so many more things than the rest of us see.”
Mt. Vernon 64, Greenfield-Central 30
Mt. Vernon;16;9;23;16;—;64
Greenfield-Central;6;5;9;10;—;30
Mt. Vernon (13-7, 4-1 HHC): Shay Shipley 7 2-2 20, Ellery Minch 7 4-6 19, Madison Swingle 5 0-0 10, Easton Wampler 2 0-0 6, Khloe Patterson 0 1-2 1, Alaina Nugent 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Laffey 0 0-0 0, Kanyonrae Kenny 1 0-0 2, Savannah Jouppi 2 0-0 6, Addison Bucksot 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 7-10 64.
Greenfield-Central (7-12, 2-4 HHC): Brooklyn McConnell 4 0-0 12, Chaney Brown 3 1-2 7, Kammi Anderson 2 0-0 5, Josie White 1 0-0 3, Audrey Pechin 0 0-0 0, Schuyler Sparks 0 0-0 0, Jalyn Smith 0 0-0 0, Addi Herrin 0 0-0 0, Katie Holmes 1 0-2 3. Totals: 11 1-4 30.
3-point goals: Mt. Vernon 9 (Shipley 4, Wampler 2, Jouppi 2, Minch); Greenfield-Central 7 (McConnell 4, Anderson, White, Holmes)
