MOUNT VERNON – After beginning the season 0-8, Mount Vernon struck gold on Thursday night against OCC foe Ashland.
The Yellow Jackets (1-8, 1-1 OCC) won 62-48, using a nearly flawless second half to put the visiting Arrows (1-6, 0-3 OCC) away late. It took experience and late-game playmaking to conquer the mental barriers that come with snapping a losing streak, and Mount Vernon found both of those things in senior Macee Marcum.
Marcum, an undersized post who can stretch the floor with her jumpshot, poured in 19 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. She was automatic from beyond the arc, netting five three-pointers on the night. But none were bigger than her last, a corner dagger with less than five minutes remaining.
At that point, Mount Vernon led by 7, but Ashland was knocking on the door. The Arrows had already narrowed the deficit to 3 earlier in the fourth quarter, and a defensive stop plus a score could bring the visitors back into it once again.
Ashland was trying to force a turnover by aggressively trapping Mount Vernon’s guards near the half-court line. But when they did, the Yellow Jackets used ball fakes, pivots and crisp passes to maneuver the ball around the horn.
Soon enough, junior guard Bryn Elliott lobbed the ball over two defenders to Marcum in the corner, where she stood alone. With four threes already in the bag, there was no hesitation from the senior. She let the ball go, held the follow through, and watched as it hit nothing but net.
Mount Vernon went up 10, and Ashland never recovered.
“Boy, that was huge. Macee’s capable of that,” Mount Vernon head coach Doug Savage said of Marcum’s performance. “She’s got a beautiful three-point stroke and I think she hit five of them for us tonight. We needed them all.”
Mount Vernon began the night hot, but things wouldn’t stay that way.
The Yellow Jackets led 12-2 with 3:26 left in the first quarter before Ashland head coach Dave Swartz was forced to call a timeout. Mount Vernon was moving the ball quickly and cleanly through the Ashland 2-3 zone, finding open threes and drop-off layups to grow the lead.
But after the timeout, Ashland regained focus. The Arrows went on a run of their own, taking a 13-12 lead going into the second quarter. Ashland’s biggest lead came three minutes later, when a Alyssa Steury lefty lay-in made it 21-14.
Steury dominated the first half, leading all scorers with 13 points. The point guard did it in a variety of ways – she scored off high ball screens, walk-in threes and free throws. She got to the basket as well, and Mount Vernon had a hard time containing her in its man-to-man defense.
But the Yellow Jackets hung in there through the second quarter, forcing turnovers and taking advantage of offensive opportunities in transition. The Jackets retook the lead after Marcum knocked down her first three, and she would hit two more within the last three minutes of the half. Senior Savvy Blubaugh added a pull-up two and a transition lay-in, while also face-guarding Steury for most of the second quarter.
The game was tied 29-29 at the half.
In the third quarter, Ashland got cold and Mount Vernon held steady. The Yellow Jackets went to a zone defense and Steury did not score in the period. On offense, Mount Vernon found solid production from senior Layne Lepley, who went coast-to-coast after a steal and converted a layup while being fouled, putting the Jackets up 33-31 with 3:10 left.
Lepley finished with a game-high 23 points on Thursday, and she proved to be the spark plug Mount Vernon needed when things got ugly early in the second half.
The Yellow Jackets took a 7-point lead into the fourth quarter, which is when Ashland began to turn up the heat with full-court pressure. Mount Vernon handled it with ease, however, as the home team used slip screens and veteran court vision to advance the ball under duress. Mount Vernon finished with just 10 turnovers on Thursday, which Savage believed was crucial in coming away with a victory.
“We can live with that,” Savage said of the turnover total. “And a lot of those came right in that little, small period, when they went from 2 points to 13 or 15 points (in the first quarter).”
Mount Vernon also executed from the free throw line, which kept Ashland at bay in the game’s final minutes. The Yellow Jackets shot 19-of-24 from the stripe, as Lepley went 12-of-14. She made nine free throws in the fourth quarter alone.
Free-throw shooting has been one of the bright spots for Mount Vernon so far this season, as the team average now hovers near 70 percent.
“Of all the things – you know, we’ve turned it over excessively, we’ve gotten pounded on the boards, we’re not shooting a great field goal percentage – but we are shooting well from the free throw line,” Savage said. “Getting the right kids to the line is key.”
After lighting up the scoreboard in the first half, Steury finished with 18 points. Ashland was held to four points in the third quarter and 19 points in the entire second half, marking one of Mount Vernon’s best defensive efforts this season.
Savage gave considerable credit to role players like Blubaugh, who may not lead the team in scoring but take pride in guarding playmakers like Steury all night long.
“Savvy likes that challenge, even though she’s really, really small. She takes pride in guarding another good player on the other team, especially if they’re a guard like that,” Savage said. “She likes that challenge, so that’s kind of been her role.”
The Yellow Jackets also held their own on the glass against Ashland, which hasn’t always been the case this season. Mount Vernon often faces bigger teams and surrenders points on offensive rebounds (its tallest player is 5-foot-9 freshman McKenna Brokaw). However, the Arrows outrebounded the Jackets by just 5 on Thursday, 31-26.
“They weren’t physically engulfed by people down there tonight,” Savage said of his team. “It was a little closer to an even matchup.”
In the end, though, Mount Vernon made big shots. The Jackets went 17-of-40 from the field and 8-of-16 from three-point range, shooting 42 percent overall. The Arrows struggled from the field at times and shot 32 percent.
Scoring made all the difference, said Savage. Mount Vernon’s previous game-high this season was 51 points, which came against Danville on Nov. 26. The Jackets have been held to 33 points or fewer in five of their eight losses.
Thursday night was a different story.
“Defense is good, you’ve gotta do it. Not turning the ball over, that’s good. But you’ve gotta knock down some shots too,” Savage said with a smile.
Savage said that after a month of agony, it felt rejuvenating to get into the win column on Thursday night.
“It felt great,” Savage beamed. “It felt great. And what felt great to me was the excitement that I saw from them, that’s what made it exciting. But I did feel good about this game.”
Savage took several congratulatory calls in his office after the game – some from area coaches, some from family members, some from friends. As Mount Vernon athletic director Justin Sanford poked his head through the door, Savage concluded a call and put the phone down.
“We’re off the schneid, baby!” Savage roared as he stood up from his desk, embracing Sanford with a satisfactory high-five.
“Off the schneid, baby!” Sanford bellowed back.
WHAT’S NEXT
Mount Vernon will get a week off before facing West Holmes (4-3, 3-1 OCC) on the road next Thursday. Ashland will return home to face Lexington (1-6, 1-2 OCC) on the same day.
Savage said his team has turned the ball over less and rebounded better in its last two games, an overtime loss to St. Francis De Sales on Saturday and a win over Ashland on Thursday, and that trend will need to continue if the Jackets want to win more games.
But Savage didn’t want to look too far ahead after Thursday’s win. After all, it had been a long time coming. It was time to soak it in. At the end of the day, the head coach was visibly proud.
“When you’re 0-8, my biggest concern is that our kids are gonna – you know, nobody wants to be 0-8, nobody’s trying to be 0-8… so I just don’t want our kids to give up,” Savage said. “I want them to keep competing and keep challenging themselves, and stick together and keep supporting each other.
“It was good to see the kids put together a pretty good effort. It was a good night for us, it was a good night. And I’ve told them all along, if you keep working hard and stick together, something good’s going to happen for you, and it did tonight.”
BOX SCORE
Ashland – Alyssa Steury, 18 points; Kaylee Friesen, 8 points; Tylah Cline, 6 points; Breena Plank, 6 points; Alicia Van Horn, 4 points.
Mount Vernon – Layne Lepley, 23 points; Macee Marcum, 19 points; Brynn Elliot, 10 points; Celina Fritsch, 4 points; Savvy Blubaugh, 4 points.
JV JACKETS WIN BY 18
Mount Vernon’s junior varsity team won on Thursday as well, 54-36. Sophomore Stella Bainbridge led the Yellow Jackets with 19 points, while Cora Lepley had 15. Freshman Mac Schlosser added 8 points for Mount Vernon. Alli Leedy led the team with 8 rebounds (Bainbridge and Lepley both had 7).
Ashland was led by sophomore Korinne Harris, who had 13 points. Shyann Simmons contributed 11 points in the loss.
Mount Vernon out-rebounded Ashland 37-19 in the JV contest.
