End of the line

... the end of the line comes for Mt. Vernon, as the Marauders fall behind early and are unable to overcome the deficit against Danville, falling 47-43.

MV took a brief 8-7 lead after Danville scored the game's first five points, but the Warriors' Luke Fields answered with a quick 3, touching off a 9-1 run that put the Warriors ahead 16-9. MV scored the next five points before halftime, but every time the Marauders cut the deficit to two, Danville would push it back up to seven.

Travis Carroll was a big man inside for the Warriors. He limited MV's inside game early and did a lot of first-half damage, scoring nine of the Warriors' 16 first-half points. Jordan Widener, Danville's second-leading scorer, totaled 12 points, with eight coming in the third quarter. He hit a big 3 early in the fourth that helped stave off an MV run. Tyler Hall hit another big 3 after the Marauders had cut the deficit to two.

P.J. Hubert hit three big 3s after Danville pulled ahead by eight, and Daniel Turner tried to put MV on his back and carry the team, scoring 10 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter. But MV just couldn't get the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead late, and ran out of time.

Congrats to #1 Danville, which is now 25-1 headed into the semistate matchup with Washington.

It was a tremendous season for MV, which accomplished quite a bit -- sectional, HHC, county and Hall of Fame Classic champions. In the careers of Turner, Hubert, Jake Stafford, D'Armond Davis and Daniel Morales, the Marauders won three county and two HHC titles in addition to the sectional championship. They'll be remembered up there with the 1987 and 1991 teams as one of the special groups in MV basketball history.

It was also a tremendous year for us, and we have to thank you, the listeners, for making it happen. You've joined us for a fun ride throughout the year as we broadcast a lot of big moments for the Marauders, Dragons, Cougars and Royals. Chris Lambert and I have a lot of fun bringing the games to you and we certainly hope you enjoy listening and following the games. We get a lot of positive comments throughout the year, especially from expatriates from around the world happy to be able to follow their high school teams again. Join us again in August as we get ready for another football and basketball season.