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Senior-laden Wildcats go down fighting in overtime loss
- The Posey County News
- 16 hours ago
- 4 min read
By Dave Pearce
The Mount Vernon Wildcat boys’ basketball team wanted another shot at Boonville. In an already-tough sectional, Coach Doug Novsek felt the team could have gotten a better draw (perhaps the bye) but the Wildcats got their second shot. The end result was a three-point loss at homestanding Boonville for the second time this season…this one in overtime.
Three main things seemed to play into the similar outcome…a lousy start, turnovers, and missed free throws.
Despite all three, the Wildcats were not without their opportunities to put the game away. They were down at the end of the first quarter by a 13-5 score and by 23-14 at half-time. But just like last time, the Wildcats clawed their way back into the game with a vengeful defense in the third quarter that held the Pioneers to only two points and saw the Wildcats put nine on the board. They trailed only 25-23 heading into the final period. Another third quarter effort would advance them to the next round of the tournament.
But things just didn’t work out to the Wildcats’ advantage in the final period. Their best chance to take the win came in the fourth quarter where they held a lead several times. But it seemed each time it looked like they could salt the game away, missed free throws and turnovers reared their ugly heads and their backs were against the wall again.
“We missed a lot of lay-ups during the course of the game,” Novsek said of his team. “We had some opportunities for some finishes there late in the game that we didn’t get. Those could have been the difference in the game but we got off to a really bad start offensively. But we fought back. But we just didn’t have enough.”
But the defensive intensity required to recover from the poor start could have hindered the Wildcat comeback. The strength used to get back into the game could have been the strength that was needed to finish it. And playing six or seven seniors with so much on the line gave the guys a chance to make their own senior season.
“They have fought back for us nearly all season, with the exception of a couple of games I didn’t feel we competed very well,” the coach said. “We had a game up in Switzerland County where we got routed and Wood Memorial beat us pretty bad at the beginning of the season.”
The Trojans are still enjoying their successful season as they won their sectional handily and look to be a real threat in the regional and possibly the semi-state.
“For the most part, when we have gotten down, we have come back,” he said.
The senior class has played the majority of varsity minutes this year and Novsek had kind words for each of them, beginning with Brady Schickiel. The coach indicated that it might have been about half-way through the season before the multi-sport athlete started having fun playing basketball again. But when he did, he was a dominant force inside, particularly on rebounding.
“And I thought Reese (Harshbarger) was a great team player,” Novsek said. “He did a whole lot of different things for us and always played hard. He got some big rebounds for us.”
The dead-eye award of the team likely went to Grayson Buse, who had some struggles at the beginning of the season but was a welcome part of the team and was probably the team’s purest shooter.
“Grayson came back and really produced for us on both ends,” Novsek said. “He was a solid player.”
Statistically, Meyer Robb led the team in the category that counts most, the scoring column.
“Meyer scored the ball for us despite a mid-season injury that kind of derailed him a little bit,” his coach said. “For the most part, he was a consistent scorer for us.”
Nash Hostetter ran this year’s team from the point. He had a lot of high assist games and a few times had some high turnover games.
“He was really an active player for us,” Novsek said.
And one player, whose name didn’t show up as much at the top of the box score, got a lot of credit from the coach.
“Early in the season, Bryce Clowers was the heart and soul of our team,” Novsek said. “He was the hardest worker on a daily basis. He seemed like he might have worn down a little bit late in the year. He’s not real big but he competed hard every day. He was very solid and a great competitor.
But the players were not the only ones learning and improving throughout the year. Novsek had to learn an entirely different culture during the season. Coming from a college coaching position, he had to relearn the game from an entirely different perspective.
“We learned a lot just being a head coach and having to get your team ready day in and day out but it was a neat experience,” Novsek said, the teacher side of him shining through. “It’s a lot different than college in that you don’t have near as much access to your kids during the day…your schedules are a lot different. But it is just a different era in basketball than when I played. There’s a lot of interest in high school basketball in southern Indiana and the tournament is a big thing. To win a sectional is extremely competitive. But our league was very competitive and the competition was really good. I thought we were there but we needed one or two more things to happen and they didn’t happen.”
In the season finale, Robb finished with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists as the only Wildcat in double figures. Schickel had nine points and 10 rebounds while Hostetter had nine points, three assists and five board. Clowers hit the only shot he took on the night, a 3-pointer, and had four rebounds. Harshbarger did not score in limited action.
The Wildcats finished the season at 13-11. The Pioneers fell 51-10 on Friday night to Heritage Hills and the Bosse Bulldogs, who got a first-round bye, defeated the Patriots 64-54 for the sectional crown on Saturday evening.
