AVA, Mo. — It has been a long time coming for the Mount Vernon girls basketball team.
After falling in the sectional round for four straight seasons to Strafford, the Mountaineers are heading to the quarterfinal round after rallying from a seven-point deficit at halftime behind a dominating performance from senior Lacy Stokes to earn a thrilling 53-49 Class 4 Sectional 6 win on the road in a raucous environment.
“It’s a huge win,” Mount Vernon coach Grant Berendt said to SoMo Sports. “It’s a monkey off the girls’ back. They have been in this game. … It’s heartbreaking to get here and be so close. Last year, we were up at half and had a bad third quarter and just couldn’t get it done.
“Ava came out and punched us in the mouth and made us rethink some of the things we were doing. They challenged our toughness. We came out in the second half and the kids really stepped up across the board. The start of the third quarter kind of shows that. Then in that fourth quarter, it was literally a dogfight, just back and forth. This win means a lot to this group.”
The fifth-ranked Mountaineers are now riding a 13-game winning streak, improving their record to 26-3. Ava’s loss snaps and 11-game winning streak, with the Bears closing the season at 21-6.
ELITE 8
Mount Vernon will take on Blair Oaks in the Class 4 quarterfinal round with a 1 p.m. matchup on Saturday at Mount Vernon High School. Blair Oaks defeated Eldon 62-46 on Wednesday. This the first trip to the quarterfinal round for the Mountaineers since 2012.
“Anytime you are playing in the Elite 8, it is a special thing,” Berendt said. “For us just to get two more days together, to practice, and then to play on Saturday is huge.
“In most years, that would be a neutral-site game at like an SBU or Drury. In a COVID year, it’s kind of weird but it worked out for us that we get to host. After we had our Senior Night, we didn’t know if we’d get back to our home floor. Having the opportunity to play (at home) in a quarterfinal game, that is so cool. It is such a neat feeling. When I broke the news to our kids, our seniors went nuts. They were so excited to get one more game on that floor.”
SCORING LEADERS
Stokes, a 5-foot-4 senior left-handed point guard who is committed to Missouri Southern, paced the way on both ends of the floor. She finished with a game-high 28 points to go along with a bevy of steals and assists.
“She is our point guard and she is our leader,” Berendt said of Stokes’ performance. “Her and Ellie Johnston are table setters for us on the offensive and defensive ends. … Lacy made plays late for us. That is what you hope your senior point guard does for you, your seniors in general. It took some guts and it took some courage for her to go do it. I am so happy for her that she was able to shine in a game like this.”
Ellie Johnston finished with 10 points, while Cameryn Cassity finished with nine points for Mount Vernon. Lisa Kruger added four.
Sara Mendel led Ava with 14 points, while Olivia Gastineau and Hannah Evans each added 10 points. Celia Fossett added seven.
GAME ACTION
Following a back-and-forth opening quarter that saw Ava holding a 19-17 following a 3-point with 35 seconds left by Evans, the Bears opened the second period on an 8-2 run to build a 27-19 lead three minutes in. Gastineau had a 3-pointer, while Keely Akers and Fossett each pulled down offensive rebounds for putback scores. Ava ultimately carried that pace into the intermission, leading 33-26 at the half.
“On the offensive side, I feel like we got some good looks,” Berendt said “Ava is known for it, but they run 99 percent halfcourt man, and they are good at it. They came out tonight and played a little different style of zone. … It was a really good call on their part.
“On the defensive end, we knew they (rebounded) well and had to get second and third (opportunities). We didn’t do a good job of blocking out. I had to make some substitutions, and I brought in Lisa Kruger off the bench and she played a tremendous role for us. It neutralized part of their offense and really helped us. I think Lisa ended with four (points) but she did so much more for us on the defensive end.”
The tides turned in favor of Mount Vernon out of the gates in the third quarter, as the Mountaineers scored 10 unanswered points to take the lead. Led by a staunch defensive effort that forced Ava into nine total turnovers in the quarter, Mount Vernon held Ava off the scoreboard for the first four-plus of the second half.
“We take pride in our defense,” Berendt said. “We came into this game giving up 35 or 36 points a game on the year and we gave up 33 at half. We kind off talked about how we weren’t getting it done. We were doing things that weren’t typical of us, and we weren’t following the scout. We had to make some adjustments on some things we did defensively. … They responded.”
Stokes led the Mountaineers in the game-changing swing, kicking off the run with three steals for runout layups at the other end to trim the lead to 33-32. Mount Vernon took the lead shortly after when Stokes found Cassity inside for a bucket at the 6:01 mark. After another turnover by the Bears following a five-second count on an inbounds play under their own basket, Stokes found Cassity in the corner for a long 2 to push the lead to 36-33.
“She came out with a tunnel-vision focus on what she needed to get done,” Berendt said of Stokes’ start to the second half. “And our kids feed off her. … She is so smart with what she does defensively. … She is just a very, very smart kid who loves playing defense because she can create her offense off of her defense.”
After Ava reached the scoreboard following a pair of free throws from Mendel, both teams traded scores, with Mount Vernon holding onto a 43-40 lead following a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Lexi Gastineau to end the third quarter.
The fourth quarter proved to be a dogfight, with Ava landing the first blow. The Bears trailed 45-41 with 6:26 to play when Ava scored six straight points, four from Olivia Gastineau, to take a 47-45 lead with three and a half minutes to play.
Mount Vernon countered with the knockout punch, closing the game on an 8-2 run over the final two-plus minutes.
Stokes tied the game at 47 with an elbow pull-up at the 2:08 mark before cutting across the lane for a left-handed scoop layup off the window to give the Mountaineers a 49-47 advantage.
Evans knocked down two free throws with 1:10 left to tie things back up, but Stokes came up big once again after getting the shooter’s touch on a runner with 36 seconds left to put Mount Vernon up 51-49.
“Late in the second half, I felt like (Lacy) settled for some jumpers,” Berendt said. “I just told her to attack. If the big kid is there, challenge her but be under control. I felt like she was (doing that) in that six-point run of hers. She had two acrobatic type of layups that she found glass and had nice spin on the ball, and then she had the really big go-ahead basket.”
After an empty possession by the Bears, Johnston, who was fouled to stop the clock, stepped up and knocked down two free throws with 3.9 seconds left to push the lead to two possessions, sealing the win in the process.
“We got the ball in Ellie’s hands because she is shooting about 81 percent from the free-throw line right now,” Berendt said. “That was huge to get it in her hands to ice the game.”
