Mt. Vernon’s Tanner Teschendorf had a team-high 16 points in the Marauders win at Mooresville Tuesday.
The Daily Reporter File Photo
By Brady Extin | Daily Reporter
MOORESVILLE — Five days after a tough loss to Noblesville, Mt. Vernon’s boys basketball team got back in the win column.
On the road at Mooresville High School, the Marauders picked up win No. 12 on the season with a 79-53 rout of the Pioneers.
A hot start in the loss against Noblesville simmered out after the Marauders failed to move the ball effectively after the opening quarter.
Tonight, it was the complete opposite.
After a quick start on the offensive end, the Marauders kept the ball moving and never let off the gas.
“Oh, absolutely,” Mt. Vernon head coach Ben Rhoades said about the team’s ball movement being more to his liking. “Since we played Noblesville last week, we’ve talked about how there are five guys on the floor at all times, and we’re good enough where if we move the ball and get it open, we have guys that we’re very confident can hit shots.”
Eight different Marauders found the basket, with six scoring in double figures.
Mt. Vernon jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead behind R’mani Wells and Tanner Teschendorf baskets, and a Julien Smith 3-pointer.
Teschendorf would add five more first-quarter points, and an Eli Bridenthal basket-and-free throw in the final minutes of the quarter increased the Marauders lead to 18-10.
But behind the hot hand of AJ Defur, Mooresville hung around through the first eight minutes.
Defur knocked down a trio of first-quarter 3s and had 11 of the Pioneers’ 13 points in the first period.
In the second, Bridenthal opened the quarter with a long ball of his own, and a few minutes later a Wells dunk pushed the Mt. Vernon lead to double digits for the first time in the game.
With the Marauders able to hold Defur scoreless in the period, they increased their lead to 33-21 at the break, and from there the lead just continued to grow.
Midway through the third, the Marauders lead grew to 21 after a Teschendorf basket and free throw.
A force on the defensive end and glass most nights for the Marauders, Teschendorf poured in a season-high 16 points to lead the team.
He was followed by five other double-figure scorers. Wells had 12, Luke Ertel and Bridenthal added 11, Smith had 10, and Conner Schank scored 10.
“Tanner’s just that guy that doesn’t stick out when you look at the game because he’s just an average looking kid, but he gets his hand on a lot of balls, he’s a really aggressive rebounder, he gets lots of deflections. He just kind of makes things happen,” Rhoades said. “He’s a good defender and uses his size and body well even though he’s not tall. He really brought us a spark (Tuesday) at the beginning of the game.”
Mooresville’s Nick Patterson tried to keep the Pioneers in the game with eight third-quarter points, but two Schank baskets to close out the period gave Mt. Vernon a 62-38 lead and all but put things out of reach.
Defur knocked down six 3-pointers on the night and led the Pioneers with 20 points, and Patterson followed him up with 18.
“We knew No.1 [Patterson] was going to be their main guy. He’s going to score points. He’s a good, strong football player,” Rhoades said. “I thought we did a good job off the ball tonight, getting some deflections that led to turnovers and a few easy buckets for us on the break. I was really happy with how active our hands were throughout the game, and I thought we really did a better job of going to the defensive boards than we have in quite a while.”
Mt. Vernon faces Pike at home on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
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Mt. Vernon 79, Mooresville 53
Mt. Vernon;18;15;29;17; — ;79
Mooresville;13;8;17;15; — ;53
Mt. Vernon (12-7): Julien Smith 3 2-2 10, Luke Ertel 4 3-3 11, Eli Bridenthal 4 1-1 11, R’mani Wells 5 0-0 12, Adam Hackett 3 1-1 7, Tanner Teschendorf 6 3-3 16, Brady Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0, Conner Schank 4 0-0 10, Daylon King 0 0-0 0, Dillon Wright 0 0-0 0, Caleb Ashley 0 0-1 0, Aiden Keene 1 0-0 2. Totals: 30 10-11 79.
Mooresville (10-9): Nick Patterson 7 3-5 18, Wes Reeves 1 0-0 2, AJ Defur 7 0-0 20, Jaxon Nielsen 0 0-0 0, Gavin Rogers 1 0-0 3, Hogan Denny 2 0-1 5, Bradley Robbins Jr. 2 0-0 5, Matt Danielson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 3-6 53.
3-point goals: Mt. Vernon 9 (Wells 2, Schank 2, Smith 2, Bridenthal 2, Teschendorf 1), Mooresville 10 (Defur 6, Denny 1, Robbins Jr. 1, Patterson 1, Rogers 1)
