Mount Vernon 49, West Holmes 36
The Mount Vernon duo of Hudson Rohler and Caden Rowland were on point and led the Yellow Jackets (4-0, 2-0) to a 49-36 comeback victory over West Holmes (0-4, 0-2) Friday.
West Holmes was up 16-8 after one quarter, but Mount Vernon outscored the Knights 12-4 in the second to tie the game at the half. Mount Vernon came out hot in the third quarter, going up 36-26 and they continued the momentum into the fourth to seal the 13-point win.
Rowland led the team with 18 points, 10 boards and three assists. He hit a pair of threes in the game and also scored six points on free throws. Rohler put up 16 points to go with three rebounds and an assist. He drained three shots from beyond the arc. Cooper Carpenter scored six points and had five rebounds and an assist for the Jackets.
Centerburg 70, Mount Gilead 53
Centerburg's Colton Martin went toe-to-toe and shot-for-shot against Mount Gilead's Matthew Bland, as the Trojans (3-1, 3-0) defeated the Indians (2-2, 1-2) 70-53, in KMAC basketball action Saturday.
Centerburg went up 19-10 in the first quarter, with Martin pouring in 11 points to set the tone of the game. The Trojans went up 36-23 at the half, with Martin scoring six points in the second quarter. The high-scoring output continued into the third quarter with the Trojans putting 22 points on the board while Mount Gilead scored 16 points. In the fourth quarter, Mount Gilead scored 14 points and Centerburg scored 12.
Martin finished the game with 27 points to lead all scorers. Grayson Reynolds scored 16 points and Jack Lawrence had a solid night with 15 points for Centerburg.
Mount Gilead had a strong performance from Bland, who had 26 points including four 3-pointers. Aaron Gannon scored 13 points and hit a pair of threes.
Marion Harding 51, Highland 37
Despite a big scoring night by Brock Church, the Highland Fighting Scots (2-2, 0-2) fell behind early and battled close the rest of the way, but Marion Harding (3-2, 2-1) kept buidling the lead and came away with a 51-37 loss Saturday.
“Although the Scots fell in the game by a score of 51-37, they battled throughout the contest,” said Highland basketball coach Mike Delaney.
Church hit a long-range three to put Highland on the board first, but Marion Harding would bounce back and go up 11-4 after one quarter. Both squads lit up the scoreboard in the second, with Highland taking a 19-18 to their deficit to 29-23. Harding took over in the third quarter, outscoring Highland 11-8 and then finished strong with a 10-7 scoring advantage to take the 14-point win.
Highland had a tough night shooting at only 25% and 33% from three. Marion Harding also dominated defensively with 13 steals and four blocks. Highland was out-rebounded 31-29. The top scorer for the Fighting Scots was Church, who scored 19 points and drained five 3-pointers. No other Scot scored more than Ranger Steck's six.
Northmor 51, East Knox 33
The Northmor Golden Knights (2-2, 2-1) had three players score in double figures as they led from start to finish in a 51-33 win over East Knox (1-2, 0-2) Friday.
Northmor went up big early, outscoring the Bulldogs 15-3 in the first quarter and then 16-10 in the second to make it a 31-13 game at halftime. Grant Bentley led the way with eight of his 10 points in the first half, including a pair of 3-pointers. Jax Wenger and Hunter Fulk also hit threes in the first quarter for Northmor, and Max Lower drained one in the second.
In the third quarter, East Knox outscored Northmor 12-11, but Northmor had a 9-8 advantage in the fourth to close out the game for the win. Wenger made several athletic plays on defense that led to fast breaks to open up the scoring.
Northmor was led by Fulk, who had 14 points including a pair of threes. Wenger scored 13 points with two 3-pointers and Bentley had 10 points, also draining a pair of threes.
Ethan Rine led the way for the Bulldogs with nine points. Derrick Field put six points on the board for EK.
Heath 63, Utica 62
Utica (2-1, 0-1) and Heath had a battle that came right down to the final buzzer, with Heath coming from behind for a 63-62 win.
Utica jumped out to a 5-0 lead early, highlighted by a corner three by Will Robertson. Heath battled back and got within one and it was a 17-16 game after one quarter. The second quarter was a big one for Utica, outscoring Heath 18-13 to make it a 35-29 game.
In the third quarter, Heath outscored Utica 15-13 to make it a 48-44 game and then outscored Utica in the fourth, 19-14, to take the comeback win. Heath had four players in double figures, led by Jaxon Duston’s 17 points.
Utica shot 59%, including 57% from deep, compared to Heath’s shooting totals of 46% and 71%. The Redskins shot poorly from the line however at 43%, which proved to be a fatal flaw. Utica also out-rebounded Heath 25-20 and led in assists 11-10.
