MOUNT VERNON — Miscues, turnovers, mistakes, regardless of the name, they played a decisive role in the game.
Mount Vernon’s 55-48 district tournament loss to Worthinigton Kilbourne in the Hive on Monday night could be blamed on each of those factors.
“It was a classic tournament, physical, hard-nosed game,” Mount Vernon head coach Nick Coon said. “In the unofficial stats we had 14 turnovers and they had 17 offensive rebounds, probably those two areas were the big keys to us coming up short.”
After a sluggish offensive start for both teams, the Wolves led the Jackets 11-10 after the first eight minutes. In the second stanza the Wolves outscored Mount Vernon 12-5 to carry a 23-15 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
Kilbourne built its lead to 27-15 with 6:52 remaining in the third period, that is when the Yellow Jackets began to show signs of life. Mount Vernon’s Trace Beck and Isaiah Columber each drilled a trey to pull the Yellow Jackets within 32-29 heading to the final eight minutes.
That’s when the wheels came off for the Jackets.
Mount Vernon turned the ball over three times in the first 30 seconds of the final stanza, resulting in six unanswered points for the visitors.
“We played a really good third quarter and cut the lead to three, we had the momentum but we just didn’t execute well enough and they took advantage of those turnovers,” Coon said. “At the start of the fourth quarter they turned the turnovers into six quick points and we just couldn’t get our defense set.”
Coon also noted second chance points for the Wolves.
“Those 17 offensive rebounds, that’s tough to overcome.”
Mount Vernon had three players in double figures, Columber 17, Zane Barber 13 and Beck added 10.
Even though Mount Vernon held a tight zone defense for most of the game, the coach said that the Jackets not rebounding played a major role in the loss.
“You give a team second and third opportunities they’re going to score more times than not,” he said. “(Kilbourne) earned this one.”
The Jackets end their season with an overall record of 12-11, 9-6 in conference play.
With the season ending on a tough note, the coach said the locker room was a tough place to be.
“That’s an emotional locker room because those seven guys (seniors) and what they have invested over the years from seventh grade on up, we have spent a lot of time together, through the good times and the bad and we wouldn’t trade it we’re really proud of all of them,” Coon said.
Kilbourne’s Zach Wolford led all scorers with 18 and Cal Wolford added 10.