MOUNT VERNON — Nolan Belcher had been in this position before.
Maybe not at the end of a close game, in front of a capacity crowd, with a winning streak on the line.
But he’d been there in the spring. And the summer. And the fall. Early nights, late mornings. He knew this spot – the corner three in front of the Mount Vernon bench, that two-foot sliver of hardwood in between the lines – like a second home. And he knew exactly what it felt like to make that shot, because according to head coach Nick Coon, he’d done it a million times.
“Sometimes he gets me in trouble (because) he’s here so late by himself at certain times. …” Coon said with a laugh. He described summer nights where Belcher simply wouldn’t leave the gym, staying until 10 p.m. or later in an effort to perfect his craft.
“Anytime you think of it, there’s a good chance he’s in the gym getting some extra work in.”
So, when Belcher received a kick-out pass from a teammate late Friday night, up 3 with 1:20 left, he appeared comfortable in that corner. The senior did not hesitate, or overthink, or collapse under the weight of the moment. Because he’d been here before, and he’d done this a million times.
At this point, it was muscle memory.
Belcher rose up and drilled the dagger three, giving Mount Vernon a two-possession lead with 60 seconds on the clock. The gym seemed to shake when his shot snapped through the net – The Hive, standing mere feet from Belcher’s launch point, erupted in an orange-and-black frenzy – and the writing appeared to be on the wall for the visit Madison Rams, who had led for large portions of the night but could not fend off these new-look Yellow Jackets.
And it was. Mount Vernon won, 56-50.
Belcher celebrated with his friends and teammates on the court afterwards – jumping, hugging, snapping pictures – and he couldn’t stop smiling. The work had finally paid off.
“He was 0-for-5 from three going into that shot, and he didn’t flinch,” Coon said of the senior guard. “He was open, and that’s a shot he’s worked on a million times – late into the night in the gym, being the last one to lock the doors – and he’s earned being able to take that shot, number one, and then having the confidence and having his teammates’ confidence to make that shot. That was a big shot to extend it to a two-possession game at that point in the game.”
Mount Vernon has now won four straight after starting the season 0-2. The Jackets have done it all at home, and in a variety of ways. They beat Johnstown by 10 before stunning Mansfield Senior at the buzzer and outlasting Wooster in a back-and-forth affair.
Friday was another grinder – a test of Mount Vernon’s poise and precision down the stretch – and the senior-laden Jackets passed with flying colors.
“The last three games are kind of a blur,” Coon said with a laugh. “We won on a last-second three, we won a two-point game, and tonight we fought off a much-improved and scrappy, play-hard Mansfield Madison team. We held them off, made enough plays in the end. So we’re finding different ways. We’ve won four in a row and none of them have been the same.
“Some nights we’ve shot it well from three; some nights we’ve shot it well from two; some nights we’ve made a lot of free throws; some nights different areas struggle – but we found a way. And that’s been big for our growth, is not just being a team that has to shoot it well from three to be able to win games. We can do other things, and we’ve learned to do other things, and we’ve gotta continue getting better at all of the areas that the game entails to have a chance each night.
“It’s a grind. But our kids believe in each other and our coaching staff believes in our guys and our group, and they’re a lot of fun to coach.”
Mount Vernon (4-2, 3-0 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference) and Madison (2-4, 0-3 OCC) were tied at 35 heading into the fourth quarter Friday. But it didn’t take long for the Jackets to develop a lead.
Senior forward Beau Bridges began attacking the basket at will, initiating contact and getting to the free-throw line. His floater with 6:17 left cut Madison’s lead to 1, and two free throws from an equally aggressive Trevor Buttke gave Mount Vernon a 42-41 lead with 5:43 remaining.
It was Mount Vernon’s first lead since the 4:10 mark in the second quarter, and the Jackets would not let it go.
Buttke converted a transition lay-in, and Bridges knocked down three more free throws to give Mount Vernon a 3-point lead with two minutes remaining. Then it was Belcher Time.
The senior stole the ball, then proceeded to run down the court and spot up for his dagger corner three, which gave the Jackets a 6-point lead with 1:20 left. He forced Madison point guard Levi Zehner into a tough shot on the next possession, and Bridges pulled down the rebound.
“He’s one of those guys (where) he’s the first guy to the gym, eager to give everything he’s got, and it doesn’t have to be scoring,” Coon said of Belcher. “He’s on the floor for loose balls, he’s defensively getting after it. He’s willing to do whatever it takes for the success of his teammates.”
Two more Bridges free throws gave Mount Vernon a 52-44 lead with 43 seconds remaining, and all Madison could do was pray. The Rams nailed two three-pointers in the final half-minute, but the Yellow Jackets went 4-for-6 from the free-throw line during that time, putting the game on ice.
Bridges led Mount Vernon in scoring with 16 points, while Belcher tallied 11. Junior wing Caden Rowland had 8 for the Jackets, while senior point guard Owynn Gleason (the hero against Mansfield Senior) and Buttke notched 7 apiece. Cooper Carpenter, a junior guard, finished with 5 points for Mount Vernon and Logan Kirby, a senior forward, had 2.
Madison was anchored by forward Isaac Brooks, who finished with 16 points. Jayden Jeffries tallied 11 for the Rams, while Ethan Spillman had 9. Zehner finished with 7 and Cayden Clapper had 3, while Corbin Herr and Tatum Turcott had 2 apiece for the visitors.
Mount Vernon surrendered 15 points in the fourth quarter, but most of them came late. The Jackets switched to a 2-3 zone after taking the lead with less than six minutes remaining, and Madison could never figure out how to crack it.
The Jackets forced the Rams into contested shots and did not allow for second-chance points, which allowed them to stretch their lead on the other end.
“We wanted to get the lead and then kind of get them out of their rhythm,” Coon said. “And we had some fouls mounting up in the third quarter, so also once we got that lead, we were able to play a little bit of zone and they didn’t get as much aggressive driving, which kept them off the free throw line a little bit more than what we thought they could have if we stayed in our aggressive man-to-man defense. So it was kind of a combination of those things.
“And our guys did a really good job, especially late in the game, of being active – moving with urgency, but then also when the shot goes up, coming up with those loose balls or those 50/50 rebounds, where they could go either way, and we were able to get enough of them to then get ourselves the basketball and work our way to the free throw line.”
Madison head coach Chris Armstrong felt this was a turning point in the game. His team couldn’t adapt quickly enough to Mount Vernon’s new defensive scheme, and it cost them down the stretch.
“We didn’t respond real well to the 2-3 zone there. We kind of tightened up a little bit against the zone. So we’ve gotta execute a little bit better,” he said.
“It’s just some execution stuff. I thought our guys, the past couple games we’ve had a couple of droughts there, and I thought our guys battled and kept consistent energy throughout the game. So I thought there was real progress there. We’ve just gotta have a little bit better execution down the stretch, especially against that zone defense.”
The Jackets and Rams went back-and-forth for three quarters, with neither team gaining a clear edge.
Madison jumped out to an 8-0 lead early, but Mount Vernon battled back to pull within three at the end of the first quarter. The Rams took a 25-19 lead into halftime after a strong second quarter, where they forced two separate five-second calls on Mount Vernon ball-handlers, but the Jackets fought back once again in the third. Five different Mount Vernon players scored in the period, helping narrow the deficit and ultimately tie the game heading into the final quarter.
Bridges was key for the Jackets late. After attempting no free throws during the first three quarters of the game, he went 9-for-12 from the stripe in the fourth quarter, using his size and skill to attack the rim and draw contact.
“We always want Beau to be aggressive because yes, he’s gonna score a lot of points because he’s a very skilled offensive player, but just as important as him scoring is (the fact that) he opens up a lot of shot opportunities for his teammates,” Coon said. “And he’s a very willing passer, to find guys open.
“So he’s an important part of how we play because he’s so skilled, and reading the defense and understanding situations – he’s there because he’s played a lot of basketball. He’s played for us since he was a sophomore. So we feed off that and when he plays well, we tend to play well. But we also have a lot of other guys that are stepping up as well, so that’s good. It’s a complete team effort right now.”
Madison had no answer for Bridges, an all-district player last season, down the stretch. A 6-foot-5 swingman with handles and vision, he was both too quick for Madison’s bigs and too strong for its guards.
“He’s a tough matchup because he can step out, and they put it in his hands a lot, to handle the pressure. So it is a challenge,” Armstrong said. “Your centers are in a position where they’re not used to guarding out there as much; put a smaller guy on him, and a couple times he made us pay the price for that. He was able to kind of back a guy down.
“So we wanted to be as active as we could, not showing the same look, kind of mixing up the looks there. But again, he’s a tough matchup. … You know, he doesn’t ever get sped up. He does a great job of just staying composed, and he’s a really tough guy to guard.”
Madison will return home next Tuesday to take on Ashland Crestview in a non-conference matchup. Mount Vernon, meanwhile, will travel to Watkins Memorial on the same night.
Armstrong said his team will use Friday’s loss as a learning experience. And the Rams will get another shot at the Jackets, as the conference foes will face off in Mansfield on Jan. 28.
“We tell them, winning in this league is going to be incredibly hard … especially on the road. So (it’s about) learning how to win. It’s going to be execution, though, for us. Do we get great shots?” Armstrong said.
“We didn’t have the dip tonight – we kept it consistent. That was number one. And second, we’ve just gotta knock down some shots and we’ve gotta get better shots down the stretch. So there was definitely a lot of growth here – it hurts now, but again, hopefully we’ll use that as fuel to get better.”
And while Mount Vernon has won four straight, and now sits atop the OCC heading into holiday break, Coon said his team still has plenty to prove. The Jackets are 4-0 at home, but 0-2 on the road. Tuesday will provide another opportunity to stem the tide.
“Our first two, right out of the gate, were on the road, and that’s a learning experience. We were fortunate to come home and thrilled to win all four of ‘em. And (we had) a tremendous student section – our Hive – and community support. But the next step, coming Tuesday, that we’ll get prepared for is proving to ourselves that we can also win on the road. Because we haven’t done that yet with this group,” Coon said.
“It’ll be a good opportunity for us to see if we can take that next step, because it’s a different challenge, no matter who you’re playing – going on the road in a different gym and understanding all the little things that maybe could go your way at home may not go your way on the road. So being able to overcome those adversities is gonna be big for us going forward, and we’re looking forward to that challenge.
“We’ll enjoy this one, but we’ll look forward to testing ourselves and getting a road game in, in actually a brand-new gym at Watkins. They just opened up a new school and a brand-new gym that looks on film like a great facility, so we’ll see. We’ll see once we get to Tuesday night.”
