MOUNT VERNON – In a win that may have turned around their season, the Mount Vernon boys basketball team needed two big shots to defeat Lexington in Ohio Cardinal Conference play on Tuesday, Dec. 29, at The Hive.
Mount Vernon’s Owynn Gleason (five points) landed a 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation to tie it up at 46. Then Beau Bridges hit a 3-ball of his own in the final seconds to lift the Jackets to a 54-53 victory in overtime.
Bridges led the Jackets with 20 points. Blake Meyer, Dayne Burgess and Hudson Rohler each scored nine points for Mount Vernon.
Jack Depperschmidt led the Minutemen (2-2, 0-1) with 18 points.
The Jackets started out slowly but found their momentum, scoring 14 points in the second quarter. They were on top 18-16 by the half.
“I feel like our energy changed,” Meyer said. “We had time to talk as a team. We figured out what we needed to do. I felt that our rebounding got a little bit better as the game went on.
“Anytime we get into overtime, it gets a little more intense. Once we lost Dayne (who fouled out in overtime) that was a big hit, but we have plenty of guys on the bench willing to step up. Caden (Rowland) came in and did a good job. We’ve got the trust in our guys to always be able to do the right thing. We all believe in each other.”
Mount Vernon coach Nick Coon credits his players’ resiliency.
“It was a week since our last game because of the holidays,” Coon said. “It was a little bit of competitive rust. I believe we fought through that and somehow, some way, got it to overtime. Then, somehow, some way, we hit the game-winning shot.”
After starting the season by dropping their first five games, the Jackets (2-5, 2-3) appear to be on a bit of a roll, winning their last two in a row.
“That’s a credit to our kids,” Coon said. “They believe in what we’re doing and executing. We’re playing at a better level than we were early in the season. We got over the hump and got a couple of Ws, and we hope to carry that momentum.”
They have a way to go, but Coon is confident that Mount Vernon basketball is starting to bounce in the right direction.
“I think that we’re starting to understand the urgency that it takes at the varsity level all the time,” he said. “Each of our guys are starting to understand the role that they need to play for our team to be successful. It took some game action and getting thrown into the fire to experience that together, and learn what we can do and can’t do at this level.”
