Mt. Vernon outscored host Covenant Christian 50-25 in the second and third quarters to pick up its first win of the season, 69-49, on Saturday.
The Marauders trailed by as much as eight points in the first quarter, 12-4, but rallied with some hot shooting from three-point range. Mt. Vernon hit 12 3-pointers, all after the first quarter, 10 came in the middle quarters.
Senior Eli Bridenthal had five 3s and led the Marauders with 21 points.
Freshman Julien Smith had 19 points, including 10 in the second quarter. He also had eight rebounds.
Smith followed up his own miss late in the second quarter for a bucket to give Mt. Vernon the lead for good, 31-29. Later in the period, frosh Luke Ertel hit a jumper to give MV a 33-29 halftime lead.
Ertel had 14 points, including a pair of treys. Smith hit three 3s. Adam Hackett and Connor Schank also made 3s.
Hackett finished with seven points.
Up four going into the second half, Bridenthal quickly gave the Marauders a double-figure lead. To start the third quarter, he hit three straight 3-pointers. Ertel added a bucket for an 11-0 second-half run.
Mt. Vernon evened its record at 1-1 and will travel to Decatur Central tonight.
Covenant Christian (1-1) got 11 points each from Tony Flatt, Andrew Crane and Paxton Bacon.
Girls basketball
Royals stay unbeaten in MEC play
Eastern Hancock picked up a big Mid-Eastern Conference road win on Saturday with a 48-34 victory at Wapahani.
The Royals jumped out early and led by 10 points, 14-4, at the end of the first quarter.
Three players scored in double figures, led by a game-high 14 points from Emma Bolding. Grace Stapleton added 13 and Sammie Bolding scored 10.
It was Eastern Hancock’s fifth straight victory. The Royals are 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the MEC.
Wapahani dropped to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in league play. The Raiders had just three player score, all were in double figures. Reese Baker scored 12. Camryn Wise and Lauren Luce each had 11.
For the Royals, additional scoring came from Makenzie O’Neal (4), Ruby White (3), Sydney Springman (2) and Ellie Meyer (2).
Eastern Hancock is back in action today with a non-conference game at Southwestern (Shelby).
Dragons score season-high
After scoring a season-best 63 points in a win Tuesday, at home, over Rushville, New Palestine upped its total and picked up a second straight victory in a 71-60 triumph over visiting Whiteland Saturday.
The win puts the Dragons over the .500 mark at 4-3.
Senior guard Isabella Gizzi scored a season-high 33 points, including three 3-pointers and 8 of 10 from the free-throw line.
Two other Dragons scored in double figures and had season-high point totals. Vivian Miller scored 17 points, including 11 in the first half, nine in the second quarter. Allie Blum had 14.
The Dragons led 39-24 at halftime and had two quarters scoring 20-plus points. New Palestine, extended its lead from seven, at the end of the first quarter, to 15 at halftime with a 25-point second period. The Dragons scored 21 fourth-quarter points.
Girls wrestling
DeLois wins tournament
New Palestine’s Sydney DeLois went 4-0, winning all matches by fall, to take the title in the 119-126 pound class at The Gobbler Girls Wrestling Tournament hosted by Southport High School Saturday.
DeLois recorded two falls in the first period and two in the second.
She won the championship match in 1:23 over Franklin’s Anna Arena.
New Palestine placed 16th out of 27 teams with 54 points. Franklin Central won with 301.
At 132-143, Madisyn Covington placed third. She finished 4-1, with all four wins by fall. She defeated Bedford North Lawrence’s Alivia Crane in 1:12 in the third-place match.
At 147-162, Julia Champ placed sixth. She had a record of 3-2, with two wins by fall.
In the 127-132 class, New Pal’s Jillian Champ placed seventh. She went 1-4 on the day.
