GREENFIELD — It was an offensive showdown.
The team with the most options won.
Balanced-scoring Mt. Vernon (20-2), ranked No. 7 in both the Associated Press Class 4A poll and the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Poll (all classes), defeated Pendleton Heights 86-74 in a Sectional 9 quarterfinal at Greenfield-Central’s Dellen Automotive Gymnasium, Wednesday.
Along with getting their 20th win of the season, the defending sectional champion Marauders won for the 14th straight time. They are 14-1 in 2022.
Five Mt. Vernon players scored in double figures, led by IUPUI-bound Armon Jarrard with 25. Avery Williams scored 15. Amhad Jarrard, also heading to IUPUI, Ray Wells and Eli Bridenthal each had 14 points.
“It’s big because they can’t key in on one person,” Armon Jarrard said. “They have to key on all of us.
“You have to give it to (Pendleton Heights). They played their hearts out.”
It was the Marauders highest scoring game of the season and the fourth time they have gone for 80 or more points. The previous high came in an 82-68 win at Beech Grove on Feb. 12.
Mt. Vernon shot 62 percent (31-for-50) from the field and 50 percent (9-for-18) from 3-point range. In the first half, the Marauders hit 67 percent (16-for-24) of their attempts, including 55.6 percent (5-for-9) from long range.
“I think one of the positives was that we had individuals take a run at different times,” Mt. Vernon head coach Ben Rhoades said. “Armon scored (12) points in the fourth quarter and Amhad and Ray, who both had 14, did not score in the fourth quarter.”
Williams had a team-high seven in the first quarter. Off the bench, Bridenthal had a team-high five in the second period.
In a 26-point third quarter, Amhad Jarrard and Williams each had six, while Wells and Armon Jarrard scored five apiece.
“Different people were able to step up at different times. I thought that was a total team effort,” Rhoades added.
Pendleton Heights (8-16) was a two-man offensive show most of the night with seniors Jamison Dunham and Luke Candiano. They got some help in the second half from sophomores Josiah Gustin and Aaron Cookston, but it wasn’t enough to stop the high-powered Marauders.
“You have to give them credit. Dunham and Candiano are seniors and they are not going to go quietly,” Rhoades said. “They both had a great game. Fortunately we came out on top. That’s one of the (best) games I’ve seen Pendleton play all year.”
Candiano had a career-high 27. Dunham was close behind with 25. They had 28 of their team’s 36 first-half points.
Gustin finished with 11, nine in the second half. Cookston had nine points.
It was the second highest point production from the Arabians this season. On Jan. 15, they won at Shelbyville 81-69.
The Arabians were even hotter, percentage-wise, than the Marauders during the first two quarters, hitting 68.4 percent of their field-goal attempts (13-for-19). They finished the game hitting at a 58.7 clip (27-for-46) and made 56.5 percent (13-for-23) of 3-point tries.
The Marauders broke a 4-4 tie on an Amhad Jarrard bucket and led the remainder of the game. They just couldn’t completely put away the stubborn Arabians until the final period.
Mt. Vernon led by 15 points, 35-20, after a Bridenthal trey, but Pendleton Heights was able to go on a run to cut it to 39-36 at halftime.
In the second half, hitting one of his six 3-pointers, Dunham tied the game 46-46 with 5:01 left in the third. Williams answered 40 seconds later with one of his three 3-pointers to put the Marauders out in front the rest of the game.
Including the trey from Williams, and buckets from both Jarrards and Wells, the Marauders were able to push their lead back up to seven, 59-52 with 2:14 remaining in the third.
Later in the quarter, Candiano, who went 5-for-5 from 3-point range, hit from deep to cut it to 59-55, but it would be as close as the Arabians would get.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our kids. They fought their tails off,” Pendleton Heights coach Adam Ballard said. “They gave everything they had.
“We just couldn’t quite get over the hump. I thought Avery (Williams) made some huge shots for them that were crushing. We were right there, but we couldn’t get over the hump. Our kids have nothing to hang their heads about.”
The win was the Marauders second over the Arabians. In a regular season game on Dec. 10 in Pendleton, Mt. Vernon won 68-48. The Jarrards combined for 39 points. Amhad had 20 and Armon scored 19.
Though the schools are only seven miles apart and often play in the same sectional, Wednesday’s matchup was the first meeting between the two Hoosier Heritage Conference rivals since 1999, a 62-52 Mt. Vernon win.
With the win the Marauders move on to Friday’s 7:30 p.m. semifinal game to take on No. 10 Anderson for a spot in Saturday’s championship game.
Mt. Vernon 86, Pendleton Heights 74
Pendleton Heights;16;20;22;16;—;74
Mt. Vernon;22;17;26;21;—;86
PENDLETON HEIGHTS (8-16): Brayden Kanitz 1 0-0 2, Ethan Ross 0 0-0 0, Josiah Gustin 4 2-3 11, Jamison Dunham 8 3-3 25, Luke Candiano 10 2-2 27, Aaron Cookston 4 0-0 9, Caden Sims 0 0-0 0, Nolan Souders 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27 7-8 74.
MT. VERNON (20-2): Amhad Jarrard 5 3-4 14, Cooper Galli 1 0-0 2, Razhaun Wells 6 2-3 14, Avery Williams 6 0-1 15, Armon Jarrard 9 3-4 25, Eli Bridenthal 3 7-8 14, George Burhenn 1 0-0 2. Totals: 31 15-20 86
3-point goals: Pendleton Heights 13 (Dunham 6, Candiano 5, Gustin, Cookston); Mt. Vernon 9 (Ar. Jarrard 4, Williams 3, Am. Jarrard, Bridenthal)
