Saturday in front of 17,274 fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis,
Mt. Vernon (Fortville) erased a double-digit halftime deficit to knock off No. 19
Crown Point 52-50 in Indiana's Class 4A state championship game.
Senior
Luke Ertel led Mt. Vernon with a game-high 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Despite shooting 2 of 10 from the field in the first half, the Purdue signee maintained his confidence and connected on 5 of 7 shots in the second half.
Max Vise was the only other player who scored in double-figures for the Marauders with 12 points.
After a personal 5-0 run from Ertel gave Mt. Vernon a 45-40 advantage with less than one minute remaining,
Kingston Rhodes knocked down a clutch 3-pointer with 52 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to two.
Luke Ertel's run in the state tournament will go down in Hoosier State hoops lore. (FILE PHOTO: Tyler Hart)
Following a pair of made free throws by
Jamaree Collins on the other end, Illinois-Chicago signee
Dikembe Shaw threw down a dunk make things 47-45. A Collins layup extended Mt. Vernon's lead to four but Shaw kept the Bulldogs alive with a jump shot to cut the deficit back to two with 17 seconds remaining.
After drawing a foul with 11 seconds remaining,
Brady Webber stepped to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws to give his team the two-possession advantage in the closing seconds.
Crown Point edged ahead 15-10 after the first quarter before building a 30-20 advantage at the half. Mt. Vernon began to flip the momentum in the third period as the Marauders outscored Crown Point 12-5 to cut the deficit to 35-32 headed into the final quarter.
Mt. Vernon continued its strong play in the fourth quarter, connecting on 5 of 9 shots from the field and 8 of 10 attempts from the free throw line.
The Marauders held the nationally-ranked Bulldogs to 8 of 23 from the field in the second half.
Crown Point (25-2) was led by a team-high 24 points and nine rebounds from Shaw in the setback.
Mt. Vernon (28-3) connected on 17 of 21 free throw attempts in the victory and shot 60 percent from the field in the second half.
