Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – Mount Vernon spent the better part of the last five years chasing Solon.

The Mustangs spent most of the first three quarters on Tuesday doing the exact same thing.

Finally in the final 10 minutes the Mustangs caught and eventually overcame their WAMAC rivals.

Class 3A second-ranked Mount Vernon used a 14-0 run to close the third quarter to erase a nine-point deficit and held on for a 44-37 win over 3A top-ranked Solon in front of a near capacity crowd in Solon.

“Our kids have been waiting for this game for a long time obviously,” Mount Vernon coach Nate Sanderson said. “When you are climbing and chasing and you are finally able to get over that hump that’s huge not just proving it to other people but proving it to yourself. They worked hard for it, they prepared well for it and that was a fun one for us.”

The win snapped a nine-game losing streak to Solon for Mount Vernon and was the first for the Mustangs in the series since February 2 of 2019.

That nine-game losing streak included three losses to the Spartans a year ago including a 58-44 Solon win in the regional final last February.

The win also likely propels Mount Vernon (12-1) into the top spot in the Class 3A rankings that will be released on Thursday.

Solon (11-2) scored the first 10 points of the game and led 12-2 after the opening quarter and 22-14 at the half.

“That’s exactly how the regional final started last year, they jumped out 8-0, 10-0, 12-2 whatever it was and we scratched and clawed and couldn’t overcome it,” Sanderson said. “This time we stayed with it and our kids were able to get back in the game.”

Solon led 25-16 when Callie Levin hit her third 3-pointer of the game 30 seconds into the second half.

The Spartans wouldn’t score again in the third quarter as Mount Vernon held Solon scoreless for a span of 7 minutes and 42 seconds that didn’t end until Levin hit a 3-point 12 seconds into the fourth quarter.

“We missed some shots, they went inside which we thought they would and we didn’t have as much ball pressure,” Smith said. “We missed shots, we missed more shots and we missed more shots. We turned it over, the ball didn’t move, it just stuck when we caught it and they got some momentum. We didn’t make enough shots.”

Solon shot 41 percent from the floor in the opening half and was 3-of-9 from 3-point range while building a 22-14 lead.

Levin scored 13 of her game-high 23 points in the opening half while Solon held Mount Vernon to 5-of-16 shoot and forced 10 turnovers.

The second half was a different story as Solon shot 18 percent (5-of-28) from the floor including  3-of-17 from 3-point range against the Mount Vernon 2-3 zone.

“Our defense was really good in the first half and you are asking a lot out of kids to do that for 32 minutes,” Smith said. “We didn’t score much in the first half but I thought there was some good ball movement. The second half comes down to me getting us better against zone.”

Despite its cold shooting Solon had an opportunity to escape with a win late.

Mount Vernon led 38-31 after a Peyton Simpson basket with 3:02 remaining but the Spartans cut the lead to 40-37 on a steal and layup by Kobi Lietz and five straight points from Levin.

Sydney Huber hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds remaining and Courtney Franck scored on a steal and layup with 4 seconds left to secure the win.

“The challenge for us this week with the weather is we haven’t practiced in over a week,” Sanderson said. “Our kids responded really well to the challenge.”

Levin finished with a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, Hailey Miller had eight points and Anna Quillin had a game-high 11 rebounds for Solon.

Chloe Meester had 12 points and nine rebounds and Franck had 12 points for the Mustangs who also got nine points from Simpson and seven from Taylor Franck.

“I thought we did a pretty good job for the most part defending the post,” Smith said. “They made some plays, we did a good job, we held Huber to two points, we just had to make more shots.”

Mount Vernon           2   12  16  14  –  44

Solon                            12  10   3   12  –  37                                       

Mount Vernon (44) – Courtney Franck 5-7 2-2 12, Taylor Franck 3-7 0-1 7, Chloe Meester 5-8 2-2 12, Josie Niehaus 0-1 0-0 0, Sydney Huber 0-4 2-2 2, Brynley Rasmussen 1-3 0-0 2, Peyton Simpson 3-5 2-3 9, Totals 17-35 8-10 44.

Solon (37) – Kobi Lietz 2-8 0-0 4, Delainey Durr 0-2 0-0 0, Hailey Miller 3-11 0-2 8, Mia Stahle 1-5 0-2 2, Anna Quillin 0-2 0-2 0, Callie Levin 8-22 3-4 23, Totals 14-50 3-10 37.

3-point field goals – SOL 6-26 (Lietz 0-5, Durr 0-1, Miller 2-7, Stahle 0-4, Levin 4-9), MV 2-4 (C. Franck 0-1, T. Franck 1-1, Niehaus 0-1, Simpson 1-1). Rebounds – SOL 31 (Quillin 11), MV 29 (Meester 9). Turnovers – SOL 15, MV 19. Total fouls – SOL 13, MV 9. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.