Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

MOUNT VERNON – With its second leading scorer Lena Evans out with an injury Clear Creek Amana was in need of a player to step up and fill the scoring void.

Instead it was third-ranked Mount Vernon that got a scoring outburst from a secondary option.

Sophomore Quinn Pershing poured in a team-high 23 points as Class 3A third-ranked Mount Vernon (19-2) extended its winning streak to 17 in a row with a 60-39 win over 4A top-ranked Clear Creek Amana on Tuesday in a WAMAC Conference cross-divisional contest in Mount Vernon.

“We came into this game looking to take away their number one scorer, she averages over 17 and (Pershing) stepped up for them tonight,” Clear Creek Amana coach Matt Hoeppner said. “If you are them that’s all you can ask for, we take away number one and number two steps up and we didn’t have that tonight.”

Playing without Evans, who averages nearly 18 points per game, for the second consecutive game Clear Creek Amana (17-2) was limited to 32 percent shooting in its second consecutive loss.

Averie Lower had a game-high 26 points but the rest of the Clippers combined for just 13 points as Clear Creek Amana was held under 40 points for the second consecutive game.

Meanwhile, Mount Vernon found offense across the board on Tuesday.

Six different Mustangs made a 3-pointer led by Pershing who was 5-of-9 from 3-point range.
Clear Creek Amana limited Mount Vernon leading scorer Savanna Wright (17.3 points per game) to nine points on 3-of-10 shooting but the rest of the Mustangs picked up the slack led by Pershing.

The sophomore guard entered the game averaging 11.4 points per game but went 9-of-15 from the field on her way to 23 points.

Taylor Franck added 11 points and Rylee Rasmussen had six points as Mount Vernon shot 45 percent from the floor.

Clear Creek Amana led 16-13 after freshman Zella Evans beat the first quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer.

The Clippers led 17-13 early in the second quarter but Mount Vernon responded with a 13-2 run fueled by a pair of Pershing 3-pointers.

Mount Vernon led 30-23 at the half and 44-31 after three quarters.

Freshman Lydia Keller had eight points for Clear Creek Amana which will close the regular season on Friday at Marion.

“We will be fine,” Hoeppner said. “Call any coach in the state and they don’t want to play two top-five matchups back-to-back without one of their top players, that’s just the way it is, it happened to us but now we move on.”

Clear Creek Amana              16   7    8    8   –  39

Mount Vernon                      13  17  14  16  –  60

Clear Creek Amana (39) – Alex Schrage 0-2 0-0 0, Kendyl Malli 0-1 0-0 0, Averie Lower 10-20 1-2 26, Berkley Bryant 0-1 0-0 0, Zella Evans 1-1 0-0 3, Kennedy Stratton 0-8 0-0 0, Nakia Tangang 0-1 1-2 1, Brooklyn Lee 0-2 1-2 1, Lydia Keller 3-8 1-2 8, Totals 14-44 4-8 39.

Mount Vernon (60) – Alivia Truitt 1-2 0-0 3, Quinn Pershing 9-15 0-1 23, Lucy Wischmeyer 1-1 0-0 3, Savanna Wright 3-10 2-2 9, Taylor Franck 5-15 0-0 11, Sorell Telecky 1-1 0-0 2, Sophia Meester 0-1 0-0 0, Courtney Franck 0-2 0-0 0, Kinley Nissen 1-2 0-0 3, Rylee Rasmussen 3-4 0-0 6, Totals 24-53 2-3 60.

3-point field goal – CCA 7-28 (Lower 5-14, Schrage 0-2, Malli 0-1, Evans 1-1, Stratton 0-4, Lee 0-2, Keller 1-4), MV 10-24 (Truitt 1-2, Pershing 5-9, Wischmeyer 1-1, Wright 1-5, T. Franck 1-3, C. Franck 0-2, Nissen 0-1). Rebounds – CCA 34 (Lower 10), MV 28 (C. Franck 9). Turnovers – CCA 14, MV 8. Total fouls – CCA 12, MV 12. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

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