Mt. Vernon’s Eli Bridenthal goes up to score past New Palestine’s Ian Stephens on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. ( Tom Russo | Daily Reporter)
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — On Senior Night, a junior hit the shot of the night.
Eli Bridenthal, who came into the contest averaging 6.0 points per game, scored 15 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter to lead Mt. Vernon to a 60-56 come-from-behind victory over rival New Palestine at Mt. Vernon High School, Friday.
Bridenthal, a 6-foot-2 junior, hit a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 16 seconds left in the fourth quarter to break a 53-53 tie.
The Marauders had trailed by 10 in the second half, but Bridenthal and senior guard Armon Jarrard helped turn things around with the majority of the second-half scoring.
Jarrard got in first-quarter foul trouble with two quick fouls. He more than made up for it in the final 16 minutes. He had 13 of his team-high 18 points in the second half.
The 15 points marked a season high for Bridenthal, who has scored in double figures in the Marauders last three games.
“That’s part of our team,” Mt. Vernon coach Ben Rhoades said. “I think any given night we have five or six guys that can step right up and step in the role they need to. The best part about all of our players, Armon and Eli tonight especially, they didn’t have a great first half, but that doesn’t mean they’re not good the rest of the game. That was a great team effort on our part.”
The win was Mt. Vernon’s 12th in a row. It also clinched a share of the Hoosier Heritage Conference and completed an undefeated season at home.
Mt. Vernon, ranked No. 10 in Class 4A, is 18-2 overall, 6-0 in the HHC and 11-0 in Fortville.
The Marauders wrap up the regular-season and conference schedule on the road Friday, Feb. 25 at Yorktown. The Tigers are 2-4 in conference play.
“I think we did a lot better job defensively (when we turned it around after being down 10),” Rhoades said. “Most importantly, we rebounded a lot better. We rebounded a lot better in the second half.
“Offensively, the first half, we played too much one-on-one. In the second half, we shared the ball better. Our defense leads to our offense. When we get in the open with people running, we’re hard to beat.”
In the fourth quarter, down 51-45, Mt. Vernon went on a 15-2 run. Bridenthal had eight of the points, including a pair of 3s. Armon Jarrard also had a trey. After Bridenthal’s second trey put the hosts ahead, Harrard scored to bump the lead to 58-53 with 1:28 remaining. Senior Cooper Galli helped seal it with two free throws.
“He’s a Division-I baseball player and he just wants to win,” Rhoades said of his junior guard who plans to play baseball at Xavier. “He’s our glue guy. We can count on him all the time to try to do the right thing with his effort and energy, whether he plays a lot or a little. He came in and sparked our team overall. He gave us a little more intensity.”
Mt. Vernon honored its seniors, which includes eight players on the 10-player roster, prior to the game.
All eight played in the win. Sennior Amhad Jarrard had 13 points. Both he and his twin brother, Armon, will play next year at IUPUI.
Tied 32-32 in the third quarter, the Dragons went on a 10-0 run. Blaine Nunnally scored the first five, including a 3-pointer. Steele Brasfield, who went over the 1,000-career point mark in the first half, finished off the run with a bucket off a steal to give NP a 42-32 lead with 3:38 remaining in the quarter. Ian Stephens also had three points during the spurt.
Brasfield led all scorers with 23 points. Nunnally had 15.
In the first half, the Dragons scored 23 of their 30 points in the second quarter. Brasfield, who is headed to Indiana Tech, had 12 in the period and 15 at the break. His final point of the half, a free throw to finish off a three-point play, gave him 1,000 for his career.
Junior teammate Nunnally had seven in the second quarter. His successful jumper with 2:41 left gave New Pal its first lead, 20-19.
Mt. Vernon had regained the lead on a pair of free throws from Armon Jarrard to make it 26-25 with 1:14 left.
Mt. Vernon got off to a strong start. The Marauders scored seven of the game’s first nine points, which included a coast-to-coast dunk from Amhad Jarrard. Off a rebound, the 6-4 IUPUI signee zig-zagged through the Dragon defense for an emphatic throw down to give MV a 5-2 lead.
A 3 from Mt. Vernon guard Avery Williams, Jr., gave the hosts a 10-4 lead. The six-point advantage was the largest of the first half.
The Marauder winning streak is the longest in school history since a 17-game success stretch to start the 2012-13 season.
Mt. Vernon’s last loss came on Jan. 4 at the hands of Class 4A No. 17 Westfield.
It was the second straight loss for the Dragons, who were on a recent eight-game winning streak prior to a loss a week ago Saturday to Class 3A No. 11 Connersville. All but one loss has been by five points or less.
The Dragons are 15-6 overall and finish HHC play 5-2.
New Palestine has its Senior Night tonight against Whiteland. The Dragons regular-season finale is set for Friday, Feb. 25 at Greenwood.
Both teams could see each other again at the Greenfield-Central Sectional (Class 4A Sectional 9). The IHSAA tournament draw is slated for Sunday.
The rivals met in either the sectional championship or sectional semifinal from 2018-2020. The programs have claimed the last four sectional titles. Mt. Vernon is the defending champion and also won in 2018. The Dragons won sectional titles in 2018 and 2019.
The two did not meet in last year’s sectional tournament.
It’s the fifth straight year the home team has won the regular season matchup.
Mt. Vernon 60, New Palestine 56
New Palestine;7;23;18;8;—;56
Mt. Vernon;12;14;17;17;—;60
New Palestine (15-6, 5-2): Ian Stephens 3 2-4 8, Steele Brasfield 9 4-5 23, Ben Slagley 3 0-0 6, Blaine Nunnally 6 0-0 15, Eian Roudebush 0 0-0 0, Damon Hockett 0 0-2 0, Bryant Nunnally 1 0-0 2, Logan Strong 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 6-11 56.
Mt. Vernon (18-2, 6-0): Amhad Jarrard 6 0-0 13, Armon Jarrard 5 5-8 18, Ray Wells 2 0-0 4, Avery Williams, Jr. 2 0-0 6, Cooper Galli 1 2-2 4, Eli Bridenthal 4 5-6 15, George Burhenn 0 0-0 0, Darren Smith 0 0-0 0, Gavin Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Charlie Bostic 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 12-16 60.
3-point goals: New Palestine 4 (Bl. Nunnally 3, Brasfield); Mt. Vernon 8 (Ar. Jarrard 3, Bridenthal 2, Williams 2, Am. Jarrard)
