MOUNT VERNON – Following a 59-50 loss to Big Walnut in non-league play in the second game on Saturday, Dec. 5 at the Hive, Mount Vernon boys basketball coach Nick Coon had one simple message for his team.
“I just think we’re not quite to the point where we’re consistent enough doing the little things — possession after possession — to beat good, quality basketball teams,” he said. “We’re very close and I think we have the pieces there and the character-guys there. But until we become player-led and player-held accountability, we won’t beat really good teams.”
The Yellow Jackets went long stretches where they controlled the game against the Golden Eagles. Mount Vernon jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the first quarter on a pair of Beau Bridges 3-pointers, a 3-pointer by Owynn Gleason and another by Hudson Rohler.
But Jagger Barnett single-handedly brought the Golden Eagles (1-0) back, scoring all 11 points to help BW pull within 13-11 at the end of the quarter.
Barnett finished with 17 of his game-high 23 points to help the Eagles take a 29-24 lead into the locker room. He added six rebounds and five blocks to his ledger for the game.
“A win is a win,” Big Walnut coach Brett Bartlett said. “Just a little sluggish start — I don’t think we defended the arc very well in the first half. I think they had five 3s in the first half. But we kept competing, kept battling and we found a win.”
The Jackets came out on fire to start the second half with an 11-2 run. But the Eagles responded with a 16-3 rally to take control for good. Gleason scored MV’s only points on a 3-pointer. He also beat the buzzer to end the third quarter on a drive, pulling the Jackets within 45-40.
“At times we played with good energy,” Coon said. “But it’s not good enough; it’s gotta be all the time. That starts in practice — building those daily habits and then it carries over to the games. We have some guys giving great effort and we’ve gotta learn from our basketball-type mistakes. But we gotta get everybody giving great effort and great positive energy all the time, and then we’ll get things moving in the right direction on a more consistent basis.”
The Eagles inflated the lead as high as 12 in the fourth quarter.
Gleason led the Jackets (0-2) with 16 points; Blake Meyer added 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks; and Bridges had 10 points and seven rebounds.
“Owynn is giving really good effort on a day-to-day basis and it carried over to games,” Coon said. “He can continue to improve and he will because he’s willing to learn and he’s got the right attitude and he’s trying to do what he can for his teammates.”
Gleason scored 15 points in his varsity debut the previous night against Ashland.
“These are just his first two varsity basketball games,” Coon said. “So he’s only gonna get better as he learns what he can do and what he can’t do at this level. But we’re excited about Owynn’s start and we know he can be even better.”
Ryan Tripp had 13 points and seven rebounds; and Carter Imertreijs added nine points, six rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals for the Eagles.
“We grinded it out and found a way to win,” Bartlett said. “Jagger carried us in that first half and then Ryan Tripp came off the bench and gave us a spark.”
