The Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets beat a pair of Ohio Cardinal Conference foes to start the week before ending with a loss to put them at 2-1 in conference play, and 3-2 overall in the early season.
On Dec. 8 the Yellow Jackets beat the New Philadelphia Quakers (1-1, 0-1) 35-32, in a game where they came back to win with a big fourth quarter. In the first quarter Mount Vernon led 13-6, led by Andrew Burke who hit three shots from deep. They were outscored 11-8 in the second quarter and it was a 21-17 lead for the Yellow Jackets at halftime.
The third quarter was all Quakers, ending the quarter with a 28-26 lead after Colton Slaughter scored seven of the team’s 11 points. The Yellow Jackets came back and outscored the Quakers 9-4 to close out the game for the team’s first OCC victory in as many games.
Burke led the charge with 15 points and two boards. Isaiah Columber put up 12 points and four boards.
The Quakers were led by Slaughter’s 13 points, while Boston Crowell had 10 points.
On Dec. 12 the Yellow Jackets took on OCC foe Madison Comprehensive (1-4, 1-1) and it came down to the final seconds in a 52-50 win for Mount Vernon.
Jack Marhefka was the hero of the game, breaking 50-50 tie to win the game on a layup with 1.3 seconds on the clock.
Marhefka had a solid all-around game with 17 points and seven boards. Burke also hit double digits in scoring with 14 points to go with five rebounds. Quentin Rowland had nine points and five rebounds.
Coach Nick Coon said while the team has showed early success, they need to keep working on the court and in practice to keep the pace.
“Our team is continuing to improve in the early season,” said Coach Nick Coon. “We are working to be relentless with our defense and rebounding as a group. Our understanding of how we want to attack offensively is getting better. We have to keep working hard in the film room, weight room and on the practice floor. We know we have a lot of room to grow and we are excited to continue our journey throughout this season together.”
The Yellow Jackets ended the week with a tough 53-50 loss to Mansfield Senior (3-2, 2-1) on Dec. 15.
This week the Yellow Jackets have a pair of road matchups, one on Dec. 19 against Utica (0-3, 0-2) and another on Dec. 22 against West Holmes (1-4, 0-2).
