Wildcats ride decisive win into Boonville Sectional Tourney

By Dave Pearce

Ready or not, the senior-dominated Mount Vernon Wildcat basketball team will compete in the Boonville Sectional basketball tournament this week. The team will enter the sectional with a 13-10 win after splitting games this week. The Wildcats fell to Washington on Tuesday before manhandling the South Spencer Rebels on Thursday evening. The Wildcats wrapped up the Pocket Athletic Conference campaign with a 7-5 record.

On Thursday’s senior night, the Wildcats jumped on the South Spencer Rebels to the tune of 22-12 in the first period and never really let off the throttle. They outscored the Perry County visitors in every quarter.

“It was a good way for these seniors to cap this season,” Head Coach Doug Novak said. “These seniors have been a part of this community for a long time with the exception of Grayson Buse. But he has been here for a couple of seasons and has become a part of these guys and the community…great families and as I have said all along, just great Mount Vernon people. These kids have represented this town very well. Then for them to come out and get this win on senior night really means a lot.”

The Rebels closed their campaign with a 9-14 overall record and a 6-7 record in the conference. They dropped the final five games of the season after a 9-8 early campaign.

“South Spencer presented some problems because all those kids can handle the ball,” Novsek said of the Rebels. “They drive it and they cut. We have not been able to handle that well and we had to go zone. We were fouling them and that is something we haven’t handled well all year. And had a couple of jayvee guys tonight who weren’t available because of the flu.”

But the Wildcats prevailed as they “did what they had to do” in collecting the 65-43 win.

“We’ve not really held half-time leads very well,” Novsek said. “When things tightened up a little, we had turned the ball over a little bit and we went back to some man defense and did what we had to do.”

The Wildcats did a lot of things right in the regular season finale as they came up with 27 boards and had 20 assists as a team while shooting 56 percent from the field.

The Wildcats boasted a balanced attack as Robb finished with 15 points six assists and four rebounds to lead the way but Hostetter had 14 points, eight assists and four boards, Schickel had 13 points and six boards and Buse had 12. Harshbarger finished with eight points and seven boards.

On Tuesday, the much-improved Washington Hatchets came to call at Mount Vernon. It was a much-anticipated evening for the Wildcats as senior Meyer Robb needed only 12 points to become a 1000-point career scorer for Mount Vernon. With the senior-laden squad, Robb, who did not play his freshman season, surrendered his starting spot for the evening as an all senior line-up took the floor.

The Hatchets began the season 2-7 before they righted the ship and finished with a .500 season at 11-11, on the strength of the 61-49 win over the Wildcats. The Hatchets showed poise and a good shooting touch as they were able to tie the score at 15 at the end of the first period.

The Wildcats failed to capitalize on several opportunities early and that seemed to become the theme of the evening. And when the Wildcats were not hitting, a high percentage of the rebounds went to the Hatchets as the Cats were able to pull down a season-low 10 rebounds. The Hatchets owned the boards with 28.

“I knew coming in that they had good offensive players,” Novsek said. “I was disappointed because I thought we didn’t compete. In the second half when it got away, we just weren’t guarding very well and we have to address this before next week. We are just not guarding the way we did earlier in the year. And they had 14 offensive rebounds and we just didn’t compete at the level you have to compete at if you are going to beat a team like that.”

And while the Wildcats struggled to find the basket, Washington seemed to enjoy the friendly confines of Mount Vernon as they shot 8-of-16 from beyond the arc and hit 22-40 shots overall on the night to finish the win. The Wildcats were whistled for 17 fouls and Washington 10.

Robb led the team with 16 points, going 7-of-12 from the field and his 1000th point coming on the only free throw he made all evening 1-of-2). Robb also led the team in rebounds. Grayson Buse was perfect on the night and finished with 11 points. Robb and Buse each finished with three assists. Nash Hostetter scored 10 points and handed out seven assists showing his ability to get the ball to the open man. Bryce Clowers and Brady Schickel finished with five points each and Reese Harshbarger had two points and three rebounds.

The teams were tied at 15 at the end of the first period but the Hatchets outscored the Wildcats in each of the remaining three periods.

“We are going to Boonville Monday and we are going to have to rebound the ball,” Novsek said. “Both Boonville and Heritage Hills are physical teams who are playing well.

In the regular-season visit to Boonville, the Wildcats allowed the Pioneers (19-4, 10-2) to build a substantial lead before battling back and almost pulling off the upset. The final score was 54-51.

“We turned the ball over 17 times up there the first time and we got down I think it was 18 but our guys battled and came back,” Novsek said. “You are not going to beat people turning the ball over 17 times.”

The Wildcat draw is brutal, facing the homestanding team in the first round and then should they win, they would likely face 17-6 (9-3) Heritage Hills, another team that edged the Wildcats in the regular season (56-49). Both those games were on the road.

Entering the sectional contest, Robb is leading the way for the Wildcats averaging 17 points a game while Schickel is leading the team in field goal percentage at 62 percent. Robb is also the leading rebounder with four per game and Nash Hostetter is averaging five assists per contest. Clowers is leading the team in blocks and steals while Robb is hitting 71 percent of his free throws. Buse is hitting over 40 percent of his 3-point attempts.