Mount Vernon entered the state tournament as the top seed in Class 3A and the Mustangs sure looked the part in routing West Marshall.
They scored from just about every spot on the floor and rolled into the semifinals with 75-19 victory. Mount Vernon (24-1) combined efficient offense with a ball-hawking defense to win for the 23th straight time after losing to 5A tournament qualifier Cedar Rapids Prairie in early December.
Freshman Savanna Wright was sensational in her state tournament debut for Mount Vernon, tossing in 23 points on near-perfect shooting. She finished 9-for-11 from the field, including 5-for-7 on 3-pointers. She also came up with four of her team’s 16 steals and handed out two assists.
Sydney Huber, who’ll continue her career at Evansville next season, added 16 points for the Mustangs and freshman Quinn Pershing made the most of her 5 minutes off the bench, scoring eight points on 3-for-3 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Taylor Franck and Courtney Franck each scored seven points, with Courtney grabbing eight rebounds. Volleyball star Chloe Meester collected nine rebounds, blocked two shots and scored six points.
No matter what combination coach Nate Sanderson put on the floor, the Mustangs clicked. They shot 58 percent through the first three quarters and finished the game at 51.7 percent. They made 13 3-pointers and forced 21 turnovers, which led to 26 points.
West Marshall (19-6) led 2-0 but stayed in front for barely more than a minute. The Mustangs came back with 12 straight points, then broke it open with a 25-0 run spanning the break between the first and second quarters.
That made it 42-7. The lead grew to 47-9 at halftime and the second half was played with a continuous clock. The Mustangs led by as many as 60 before West Marshall finished with the game with two late baskets.
West Marshall managed only one field goal in the middle two quarters – Mount Vernon outscored the Trojans 39-4 in that span – and finished the game 8-for-44. Bella Borgos led West Marshall with seven points. Lily Zahnd and Shelby Johnston each grabbed six rebounds for the Trojans, who made their 12th state tournament trip and second in three years.
Next up for Mount Vernon is a semifinal game at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The Mustangs lost to Estherville-Lincoln Central in last year’s semis.
