By Anthony Mock
MaxPreps.com
Steve Lynch’s first two years as the head coach of the Mount Vernon boys basketball team were trying. The team came into this season with high expectations, but struggled to a 2-3 start.
“At that point, we evaluated where we were as a team,” Lynch said. “We realized that our goals were still intact. The biggest thing that we focused on was finishing in the fourth quarter, because we had leads in all three losses and let them slip away.”
The experienced Marauders have not let anything slip since. With a 74-64 win over Westfield on Tuesday, 3A No. 6 Mount Vernon is now riding a 14-game winning streak and owns a share of the Hoosier Heritage Conference lead with Delta. Some of Mount Vernon’s victories over that stretch include a double-overtime win at Delta in the midst of a four-game road trip.
“We’ve really been able to establish toughness and good team defense on the court,” Lynch said. “We’re junior and senior dominant, so we’ve been able to keep our composure in the close games.”
Mount Vernon’s starting five compliments each other well, with each player bringing different elements to the team. Point guard Kyle Banayota runs the offense, averaging over three assists per game. P.J. Hubert, the other guard, is a sharp shooter averaging 15 points per game. Swingman Daniel Turner is the Marauders’ utility man, averaging over 13 points and 11 rebounds per contest, while shooting 50 percent from the field and leading the team in steals.
Power forward Brad Voltz is a scrappy hustler, averaging six points and four rebounds a game, but Lynch credits Voltz with doing the dirty work and the numerous non-statistical things that win basketball games. His front court partner, 6-foot-8 center DeArmond Davis, is averaging seven points on 60 percent shooting, five rebounds, and nearly two blocks per game.
“Sometimes it works out where you’ve got a lot of talent at one position. I think that we’ve got all the pieces to the puzzle, and we’re very fortunate to have such a good bench, as well,” Lynch said.
Mount Vernon (16-3) ends the regular season against Yorktown (10-10) on Friday.
More Boys Basketball: Franklin Central falls to Pike
After beating Pike by 13 in the opening round of the Marion County tournament, Franklin Central fell to the Red Devils 60-49 on Friday.
Pike took advantage of 11 first half turnovers by the Flashes en route to a 27-20 lead.
Franklin Central’s 49 points was tied for the fewest allowed by Pike this season, and the Red Devils’ 54 percent from the field allowed them to maintain a double-digit lead the entire fourth quarter.
Khristian Smith put up 19 points for the Red Devils, and Marquis Teague added 18 points and five assists. Franklin Central’s Patrick Bade put up 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting in the loss.
Pike (11-7) suffered a 70-52 loss to Lawrence North on Tuesday, but stands a good chance in a talented and wide open sectional. The Red Devils play their final game of the season against Warren Central on Friday before facing defending 4A champion Brownsburg in the opening round of the postseason.
Franklin Central (16-5) has now lost two straight. The Flashes' final regular season game is Friday against Bedford North Lawrence (12-7). Franklin Central has a bye in the first round of sectionals.
Girls Basketball Regionals: Mooresville fends off Jeffersonville; Ben Davis up next
Coming off a 92-59 win over Evansville Harrison in the opening round of regional play, 4A No.6 Mooresville squashed several second-half rally attempts to beat No. 10 Jeffersonville 56-50 in the finals.
Mooresville jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first quarter and never relinquished its hold on the game. The Pioneers never led by more than 11, and the Red Devils cut the lead to four three times in the final two minutes, but Mooresville held on to its lead by hitting 13 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Mooresville was led by center Meagan Callaway with 19 points, followed by Jama Sharp with 17. Jeffersonville, whose starters are all sophomores and freshmen, put up a good performance against the one-loss Pioneers and was spearheaded by freshman forward Jalynn McClain with 27 points and 13 rebounds.
Mooresville’s next test is against the Ben Davis, ranked No. 2 nationally in this week’s MaxPreps Xcellent 25. The Giants are deep, but Mooresville is looking forward to the challenge.
More Girls Basketball: Ben Davis reverses fortunes
Last season, Ben Davis suffered a let down in the regional final at the hands of eventual champion Carmel. This time around, the 4A No. 1 Giants took it to the Greyhounds, earning a semi-state match-up against Mooresville with a 65-42 win.
Defense dominated the first quarter, as each team scored just nine points. The Giants’ defense, which has been a source of strength all season long, turned a 7-0 Carmel start into an eight point halftime advantage.
Amazingly, the Greyhounds did not pick up a foul until two and a half minutes into the third quarter. Though Carmel easily led the foul count, the Greyhounds could only muster three points in the third quarter.
Ben Davis was led by sophomore Bria Goss, who left last week’s sectional final with a head injury, with 17 points. Penn State-bound senior Alex Bentley added 15. Bowling Green recruit Chrissy Steffan was limited to 12 points after scoring 25 in the semifinals.
To reach the regional finals, the Giants manhandled Lawrence North (15-9) 62-33 in the first round. Carmel (21-5) took out Perry Meridian (21-5) 59-55.
Wrestling: State finals results
103 Pounds – Union County freshman Cody Phillips finished the season unbeaten at 49-0 with a second-period pin of Franklin sophomore Dusty Kief.
112 – Roncalli sophomore Josh Kieffer fell in double overtime to Crown Point's Anthony Hawkins. The two wrestlers were knotted at one as the period ended, and neither managed to score in overtime. Hawkins took bottom in the second overtime and managed to escape from Kieffer in the final 30 seconds.
119 – The finals featured two very familiar rivals. Anderson Highland's Camden Eppert ended a five-match losing skid to top-ranked Cathedral junior Brandon Wright with a 3-2 double overtime win. Eppert lost to Wright in both the regional and semi-state finals, but scored a reversal to get the championship. Eppert won the 103-pound class as a freshman after knocking off Wright in the finals. Wright took the 112-pound crown away from Eppert last year.
125 – Lawrence North senior Cashe Quiroga was the top-ranked wrestler in the weight class, but fell in the semifinals to eventual champion Jason Tsirtsis, a Crown Point freshman and younger brother of former undefeated, four-time state champion Alex Tsirtsis. The younger Tsirtsis got by Quiroga, the defending 119-pound state champion, 5-4 in double overtime, then won 16-3 in the finals.
130 – After beating three-time defending state champion Josh Harper (Mishawaka) in the semifinals, Pike senior D'Marcus Spencer fell to Hobart's Frankie Porras 4-1 in the finals.
135 – Taylor March of East Noble topped Brown County's Mitchell Rickey 4-3 in the finals.
140 – Mishawaka's Steven Sandefer repeated as champion.
145 – Cathedral senior Gavin McGinley put Culver's Daniel Young on his back in the third period, taking a 7-4 lead in the 145-pound finals, but Young (48-0) was able to get a reversal and pinned McGinley with 28 seconds left in the match.
152 – Portage's Sean McMurray won his second consecutive state title.
160 – In perhaps the most highly-anticipated final, Martinsville senior Briar Runyan (43-0) topped Pendleton Heights' Matt Todd (46-1) 8-3. Both were unbeaten, but Runyan was the more experienced of the two, having come in third place as a sophomore and second as a junior.
171 – Lawrence North's Bryce Grimes fell to Union County's Michael Duckworth 2-0. Grimes had beaten Duckworth in semi-state, but was unable to escape from Duckworth in the final period.
189 – Marcus Shrewbury of Crown Point took out Drew Garber of Northridge 6-3 in the finals.
215 – Billy Baker of Bellmont beat Christian Lentz of Mishawaka 4-1 in the finals.
285 – Winchester's Adam Chalfant defeated Alex White of Mount Vernon Posey.
