Mt. Vernon is advancing to the girls basketball State Finals for the first time in 35 years, as the Marauders beat Madison 70-54 today to win the IHSAA 3A Southport semistate title.
MV had another great start, holding a team to one field goal in the first quarter and building a double-digit lead for the third straight game. MV led 14-3 after a quarter and pushed it to 35-17 by halftime. Jessica Brown got the Marauders started, scoring 12 points in the opening eight minutes and finishing with 25 -- also helping MV salt the game away in the fourth with nine points in the final stanza.
Rachel Houck was the run-killer for MV. She hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points, and nearly every one in the second half seemed to come as Madison was threatening to make a comeback. The Cubs cut MV's lead to 37-24 in the third, and the Marauders responded with six straight points. Madison got as close as 63-54 in the final two minutes, but MV put it away at the line.
Erica Moore also had a strong game, scoring 12 points. Makenzi Reasor, Anna Olson and Kelsie Owens also had big plays at big moments. Owens hit two crucial 3-pointers -- MV hit eight in total -- and Olson quarterbacked the Marauders' defense.
Kelsey Block had a big offensive game for Madison, scoring 21 points. Cadie Polivari added 10 off the bench, including 8-of-12 from the line.
As a result, MV (23-5) earned a berth to the State Finals, where the second-ranked Marauders will face No. 7 Fort Wayne Concordia, which beat Western 46-35 today to win the Warsaw semistate. Concordia is 20-5, having knocked off Hamilton Heights and #3 NorthWood to win the regional last week. The Cadets, coached by ninth-year bench boss David Miller, defeated Rushville in the State Finals to win the 3A title in 2010.
The MV-Concordia game will be at 6 p.m. Saturday. Join our crew at HancockCountySports.com for the worldwide broadcast beginning at 5:30 p.m.
No comments:
Post a Comment