INDIANAPOLIS – The vibes in the Mt. Vernon boys basketball locker room at halftime of the Class 4A state finals? Not great.
“A lifeless kind of vibe,” senior guard Luke Ertel said.
Ertel took the blame, saying he was not doing a good enough job of getting his teammates involved in the first half. Crown Point took a 10-point lead into the locker room and looked every bit the part of a team that could continue to jam up the Mt. Vernon offense.
But the third quarter was a different story. Crown Point, after getting downhill and shooting 7-for-12 in the second quarter, settled for five consecutive 3-pointers to start the second half. They all missed. And Mt. Vernon, after a three-point play by Ertel, a bucket by Max Vise and a 3-pointer by Jack Guerre, was right back in the game, trailing by two.
“We had some bad possessions,” Crown Point coach Clint Swan said. “That’s where they garnered some of their momentum. We just couldn’t get it back.”
As opponents have learned time and time again in the tournament, Ertel and Mt. Vernon slip right through those cracks in the door. The fourth-ranked Marauders did it again on Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, rallying for a 52-50 win over No. 2 Crown Point to earn the program’s first state championship.
Those halftime vibes were flipped upside down judging by the postgame music blaring from the Marauders’ locker room. From the beginning of the season, all Ertel had in mind was winning a state championship. Every game, including heartstopping wins over Pike in the regional at Southport and New Albany in the semistate at New Castle, there was always another game to look forward to winning.
Until Saturday.
“I can’t describe it,” Ertel said. “I’m kind of speechless. It’s something you dream about growing up when you are four or five years old coming to the state finals. To be here at Gainbridge, it felt like we were NBA players. It’s just crazy.”
Ertel finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists and, maybe most importantly, just two turnovers against Crown Point’s pressure defense. Max Vise, his 6-8 junior running mate, added 12 points, five rebounds and five blocked shots.
The third quarter was the turning point, but not just because of Mt. Vernon’s fast start after trailing 30-20 at halftime. Ertel missed a shot that would have tied the game with 6:18 left in the third and Crown Point went to a four corners offense. After a possession that took 1 minute, 48 seconds off the clock, Crown Point senior standout Dikembe Shaw drained a stepback jumper.
After the media timeout with 3:57 left in the third, and Crown Point leading 32-28, the Bulldogs held the ball again as Mt. Vernon fans booed. The Bulldogs worked almost 80 seconds off the clock before Kingston Rhodes missed a jumper. Crown Point still led 35-32 going into the fourth quarter, but the momentum of the game seemed to favor Mt. Vernon.
“I couldn’t take some guys out,” Swan said of the stall tactic. “I had to keep them on the floor. We were gassed. I had to get that ball spread out and had to hold it for a little bit to get them some rest. I thought our guys handled it well. We got good shots out of it.”
Mt. Vernon coach Joe Bradburn knew Crown Point might go into a stall at some point because they had shown it at times in other games this season.
“We knew that they like to do some four corners and that type of offense,” Ertel said. “But I thought it was very odd that they went to four corners because they can run with us, they can play with us and have a lot of talent and Division I guys on their team. That was kind of a weird game plan in my opinion and it felt like they were a little intimidated by us, which they shouldn’t have been.”
But that did not decide the game. Shaw, who finished with 24 points and nine rebounds, drilled a 3-pointer to put Crown Point up 38-32 with 7:10 left, but Ertel answered with a floater and a 3-pointer to bring the Marauders within one with 5:48 left. Vise then made a 3-pointer – his second of the game – to give Mt. Vernon its first lead at 40-38 with 4:53 remaining.
Mt. Vernon took the lead for good on two Ertel free throws with 3:08 remaining.
But it was fitting that it took clutch free throws from players like Jamaree Collins and Brady Webber to put the Bulldogs away. Collins hit two with 44 seconds left to push the lead back to four. Webber drained two more with 11 seconds remaining to give the Marauders a four-point lead again.
“I’m a 40 percent free-throw shooter,” Webber said with a laugh. “But guys had my back. I was confident.”
For the record, Webber is a 53% free-throw shooter. The senior is also a state champion and the Class 4A Mental Attitude Award winner. Mt. Vernon fans chanted “Brady! Brady!” after the announcement was made.
“I marvel at all the things Brady can do,” Bradburn said. “It’s so special. All of our guys have some type of story. Max and Luke are obviously our foundation but everyone else has taken turns doing something along this whole entire route.”
The route ended in the best place possible: with a state championship.
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Get IndyStar’s high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Mt. Vernon rallies, beats Crown Point for Class 4A state title. ‘I’m kind of speechless.’
Reporting by Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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