Mt. Vernon’s Amhad Jarrard goes up for a slam dunk in the second quarter against Noblesville at Mt. Vernon High School on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. (Richard Sitler/Daily Reporter)
FORTVILLE — On paper, the Class 4A Mt. Vernon Marauders are a team built to score points.
On Tuesday night at home, the 13th-ranked Marauders maintained that identity and exceeded their 66.6 points per game average against the visiting 4A Noblesville Millers.
However, it was the Marauders unselfishness that drove the production, leading to an easy 71-56 victory and 11th consecutive.
With a handful of players averaging nearly four assists a night, the Marauders (17-2) jumped out fast with defense and speed, and led by as many as 18 points in the second half to topple the Millers (10-9).
Mt. Vernon hasn’t lost a game since falling on the road to 4A Westfield, 87-78, on Jan. 4. Since the setback, the Marauders have hit 70 points or more six times.
“We’re just trying to stay focused. Coach says every day, it doesn’t mean anything. We just have to keep taking it day by day and game by game. They’re coming for us because we’ve won 10 in a row, so we just have to stay focused,” Mt. Vernon senior forward Amhad Jarrard said.
Against the Millers, a trio of double-digit scorers put the Marauders in control, building a 9-0 lead before Noblesville’s first point and a 9-3 run before the second quarter equated to a 19-11 advantage.
Senior Armon Jarrard paced the Marauders with a game-high 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting, including three 3-pointers. He had eight points in the first half and went perfect from the floor in the second half with 12 more points.
Amhad Jarrard finished with 16 points and hammered down two dunks — one in each half — with the first capping a 10-3 run to end the second quarter and the second to put Mt. Vernon ahead 64-46 in the fourth. He added four rebounds, three steals, three assists and two blocks to the stat sheet.
“Coach gets on me every day about rebounding. He says I jump the highest, so I have to help them out,” Jarrard said. “I’m just trying to help my team out. I just want to make my dunks, get the crowd going and get my teammates in position. Sometimes, if they crash on me, I know they’ll be open, so I can kick it to them.”
The primary beneficiary of the kick outs was junior Eli Bridenthal, who had 10 points off the bench with two 3-pointers in the first half. Avery Williams Jr. added nine points and four steals to go with three assists. Cooper Galli provided seven points and seven rebounds. Armon Jarrard dished out five assists, and senior Ray Wells had five rebounds and four points.
“Tonight, Eli stepped up and got double figures. I think on any given night, we have six or seven guys who can score 15 points. That’s a definite strength of our team. And, one of the best things in that is I don’t think the players care who scores,” Mt. Vernon head coach Ben Rhoades said. “We have a lot of assists. We have three guys who are averaging almost four assists a game. That’s been a big part of them playing together for the last three or four years, and they’re just trying to build every day. It’s been paying off for us.”
The big payoff will be on Friday night when the Marauders play host to county and Hoosier Heritage Conference rival New Palestine (15-5, 5-1 HHC), who is looking to tighten the league standings. Mt. Vernon is 5-0 in the HHC, while 3A No. 8 New Castle is 4-1. New Palestine has won eight of its past nine games.
“I can’t wait,” Jarrard remarked on Friday’s senior night showdown. “It’s going to be real intense. It’s senior night. There are going to be a lot of people coming out, so we’re going to have a lot of good energy in the building.”
Noblesville’s Luke Almodovar led the Millers with 19 points, followed by Aaron Fine with 18. The Millers shot 51 percent from the field (21 of 41), while the Marauders, once again, stay on par at 50 percent (27 of 54).
“We have guys now that have been playing and starting now for two or three years, and I think that experience and growth as players has been a big thing. You tell them when they’re sophomores or juniors that we’re doing this for a reason. It’s a journey. We’re still on that journey and we’re still getting better every day, and I think we have a good chance in almost every game we’re in,” Rhoades said. “I think they’re competitiveness is really coming out here lately. They’re driven right now.”
Mt. Vernon 71, Noblesville 56
Noblesville;11;12;16;17;—;56
Mt. Vernon;19;14;16;22;—;71
Noblesville (10-9): EJ Smith 2 0-0 2, Aaron Fine 8 1-2 18, Cooper Bean 1 0-0 2, Luke Almodovar 6 5-5 19, Preston Roberts 2 3-4 7, Hunter Walston 1 0-0 2, Cameron Karns 1 2-2 4, Evan Wright 1 0-0 2, Luke Wilson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 12-14 56.
Mt. Vernon (17-2): Amhad Jarrard 7 2-2 16, Armon Jarrard 8 1-2 20, Cooper Galli 3 1-1 7, Avery Williams, Jr. 3 2-3 9, Razhaun Wells 2 0-1 4, Eli Bridenthal 3 2-3 10, George Burhenn 0 2-4 2, Gavin Sullivan 1 0-0 3, Darren Smith 0 0-0 0, Charlie Bostic 0 0-0 0, Darnell Stewart 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27 10-16 71.
3-point goals: Noblesville 2 (Almodovar 2); Mt. Vernon 7 (Williams Jr. 1, Ar. Jarrard 3, Bridenthal 2, Sullivan 1)
