MOUNT VERNON – It was a rematch of one of last season’s most thrilling games.

In February, Mount Vernon defeated Marion Harding by one point in the first round of the playoffs after then-senior Maggie Nussbaum scored all eight of the team’s overtime points. The senior-laden Yellow Jackets outlasted the up-and-coming Lady Prexies in a classic duel.

This year’s season opener, however, played out much differently.

Behind a disorienting full-court press and relentless offensive rebounding, Marion Harding (1-0) easily took down Mount Vernon (0-1) on Saturday night, 47-33. The Lady Prexies were paced by senior center Parkar Mauk, who had 13 points. Sophomore guard Ariyah Douglas contributed 10 points, while freshman forward Justice Steinman-Ross had 9.

Mount Vernon trailed by six after one quarter, but Marion Harding’s pressure cracked the Yellow Jackets’ backcourt in the second stanza, leading to quick buckets and a 13-point halftime margin. Mount Vernon never came within 10 in the second half.

“They’re quick and they’re strong and they’re physical,” Mount Vernon head coach Doug Savage said after the game. “Their ability to pressure you, turn you over – it’s hard for us to us to practice that. It’s hard for our JVs to give us that kind of pressure – it’s not hard, it’s impossible. So that definitely hurt us.”

Mount Vernon finished with 15 turnovers on Saturday night, almost all as a result of the press.

Savage believed that experience also played a major factor in the season opener, as Mount Vernon returned just one starter (senior Layne Lepley) from last year’s team. On the contrary, Marion Harding welcomed back four starters.

Lepley provided the lone bright spot for the Yellow Jackets offensively on Saturday night, as she led all scorers with 17 points. When Mount Vernon’s half court offense stalled, Lepley was able to attack the rim and finish through contact.

By the second half, however, Marion Harding began to face-guard Lepley, which left the scoring up to the other four players on the court. Mount Vernon’s other four starters combined for just 10 points.

Savage told his team afterwards that, given who was there to scout the game on Saturday, he expects more of the same from future opponents. More Yellow Jackets (besides Lepley) will need to step up to carry the team offensively.

“I told my girls in the locker room – Danville was here, I think Big Walnut was here, Westerville Central was here. Those are teams that we’re playing in the next week or so and they know now that if they take away Layne, Mount Vernon has a tough time scoring,” Savage said.

“So it’s going to be up to us to prove to them – now I don’t think that necessarily – but we have to prove to them that that’s not true, that’s not the case.”

Marion Harding also used its size to punish Mount Vernon on the glass all night long, as the undersized Yellow Jackets struggled to hang as the game progressed.

Leading by just 11 at the beginning of the third quarter, Steinman-Ross (listed at 5-foot-11) and Mauk (5-foot-9) volleyed the ball back-and-forth off the backboard in a demoralizing sequence that resulted in a Steinman-Ross lay-in, putting the Lady Prexies up 13 and bringing life to the visiting crowd.

“Once it gets on the rim and it starts going from one side to the other and we’re all just kind of going straight up after it, that’s where it really gives us problems,” said Savage, whose tallest player is 5-foot-9 freshman McKenna Brokaw. “And they got some inside buckets because of that.”

While the Yellow Jackets made it to the free throw line twice as much as Marion Harding, they shot only 45 percent from the stripe (9-of-20), while the Lady Prexies shot 70 percent (7-of-10).

Most of Mount Vernon’s missed free throws came early on, although they trailed by just six after one quarter. Marion Harding began its full-court press midway through the first period, speeding the Yellow Jackets up and jumping out to a 12-2 lead after Douglas stole a post feed and went coast-to-coast for a layup.

In the second quarter, more Mount Vernon turnovers caused the deficit to balloon to 13 after another Douglas drive-and-score. The Yellow Jackets came within 10 in the third quarter when Lepley found junior Celina Fritsch for a transition bucket at the buzzer.

But Marion Harding proceeded to successfully pick apart the Yellow Jackets’ 2-3 zone in the fourth quarter, slipping into the middle crease and finding baseline cutters to score and keep the home team at bay.

After Lepley, Mount Vernon was anchored by senior wing Macee Marcum, who contributed 7 points. Sophomore Lexi Shaffer added 4 points off the bench. Meanwhile, Marion Harding’s Megan Freeman recorded six points and Nicole Flock poured in five points for the Lady Prexies.

Mount Vernon will head to Danville on Monday night to face the Blue Devils in their season opener.