The Hancock County championship trophies are staying put after this year, as the New Palestine boys and Mt. Vernon girls both used big fourth-quarter runs to win their respective titles tonight at Mt. Vernon.
In the boys game, NP won 61-55, largely spurred by a 16-1 run that spanned the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth that saw a seven-point Marauder lead turn into an eight-point Dragon advantage.
New Palestine junior forward Michael Morris keyed the second-half run, hitting two 3-pointers and scoring 16 of his 26 points after the break. Morris hit 9-of-12 from the floor, nearly all from the perimeter, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. He was also a perfect 4-of-4 from the line. Senior Josh Penley added 11 points and three boards -- scoring several of his points down the stretch to help the Dragons build and maintain their second-half lead. Justin Ikerd hit a big third-quarter 3-pointer in the game-turning run and finished with six points and seven assists. Reid Clark had six points and five boards.
MV sophomore C.J. Coleman helped key an early Marauder edge, as he scored 15 of his team-high 21 points in the first half. Coleman's backcourt mate, junior Anthony Burnett, scored six first-quarter points and finished with eight. Alex Payne hit two fourth-quarter 3-pointers to try to lead the Marauders back from what became an 11-point deficit and scored 11 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting. Stephen Turner also scored 11 points for the Marauders.
NP is now 8-1 and next plays Jan. 6 against Delta. MV is 5-3 and next plays Jan. 6 at Greenfield-Central in a game we will broadcast live on HancockCountySports.com.
Eastern Hancock won the consolation game 63-26 over Greenfield-Central. The Royals improved to 6-4, G-C fell to 0-9.
In the girls game, Mt. Vernon scored nearly half its points in the final five minutes in a 47-31 victory over New Palestine, to win its third consecutive county title.
NP led 29-24 with five minutes left and had an open look from 3 that would've made it an eight-point game, but MV went on a 21-0 run fueled by its defense and timely 3-point shooting, as Makenzi Reasor, Rachel Houck and Jessica Brown all hit 3-pointers in the run and MV's defense forced several turnovers.
The Marauders were led by Brown's 14 points, four assists and four steals. Reasor finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three steals. Houck had 10 points. Anna Olson had 10 rebounds to lead MV on the glass.
New Palestine built the lead with strong play from Bethany Murrell, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Abby Seifert had nine boards.
The Marauders (10-2) next play Thursday in the Hall of Fame Classic, with the semifinal game against 4A No. 1 Penn at approximately noon. Listen to the game on HancockCountySports.com. The Dragons are now 5-7 and next play Friday in the Franklin Tournament, facing Indian Creek at noon.
Greenfield-Central won the consolation game 78-47 over Eastern Hancock. Sara Jones had a career-high 22 points for G-C, with LaRae Cruz adding 14. G-C is now 8-5 and next plays Jan. 3 at Delta. EH is now 8-4 and hosts Southwestern (Shelby) Jan. 3.
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