You never know what you’re going to get with a Homecoming game. The extra excitement usually adds a boost to the home team but sometimes it works to the visiting team’s advantage. Monett played the role of spoiler in front of a packed house at Mr. Vernon defeating the Mountaineers 64-46.
“Our guys really wanted to play well—and they played hard—but we just didn’t have the offensive firepower we needed,” said Mt. Vernon head coach Mike Ray.
Monett (15-6, 2-2) opened up the game in a mad defense and the Mountaineers were able to stake a 10-7 lead with six points coming from their lone senior, Trace Williams. Mt. Vernon extended the lead to five but the Cubs finished out the quarter on an 8-2 run, taking a one point lead into the second quarter.
“Trace is the only senior we have he’s been a leader for us,” said Coach Ray. Williams finish the 10 points. Jarrett Massie led Mt. Vernon in scoring with 12 points.
A couple more scoring runs, one by each team, comprised the second period. It was the Mountaineers turn first as they started with a 12-point stretch and expanded the lead to eleven. Monett head coach Jeremy Land called a timeout to get his team back on track. His speech was short, but apparently inspiring.
“I told them to ‘pick it up.’”
Just those few words—and maybe a few more he added during the timeout—did the trick as the Cubs answered with a 15-3 run of their own. The teams ended the quarter just as it started with Monett hanging on to a one point advantage going in to halftime.
Kobe Besch made several key plays for the Cubs in during their scoring streak. He nailed a three-point basket at the 1:05 mark to give Monett the lead for good. Besch only scored nine points but made contributions that didn’t end up on the stat line.
“He’s a moving force this year,” said Coach Land. “He’s been a big complement to our offense and what we want to do. The boys do a good job of playing off each other and he fits right in.”
Mt. Vernon (6-12, 1-3) had a great chance in the third period as the several Monett players registered their third foul. Four Cubs, including three starters, had to grab some pine because of fouls.
The Mountaineers tried to use a triangle and two defense to hold the Cubs in check, but Monett would have nothing to do with it. Coach Land had his players hold the ball until Mt. Vernon was forced to play man to man.
Coach Land said, “We’ve seen that before and we’ve struggled against it. We were just going to hold it until they came out of it. Then we were able to execute our man offense against it.”
Not much scoring took place in the third period. As Coach Ray had said earlier, Mt. Vernon had a hard time hitting baskets and only made one field goal in the frame. Monett built a seven point lead after three periods.
Fouls kept racking up against Monett and they had to adapt their offense to one where they played a smaller line up. “Dexter Bailey came in and gave us some good minutes tonight and Jonah [Paszek], he’s a versatile guy who can play a post for us or on the perimeter, did a good job for us tonight.”
“When our bigs went down with some fouls we knew we had to get out and beat them down the floor,” said Paszek. “David [Lee], and Blake [Moore], and Dexter came off the bench. Whoever comes in they know they have to hit a shot or a free throw. They are just as important as the starters.”
Paszek scored 19 points, had eight rebounds, and dished out four assists. Logan Coones led all scorers with 23 points for Monett.
Mt. Vernon has a couple of snow make-up games stuck into their schedule next week, the first coming on Monday night at Aurora. Monett is scheduled to hit the court next Thursday at Seneca.
Mt. Vernon: 15, 15, 5, 10—46
Monett: 17, 15, 11, 21—64
Mt. Vernon: Boswell, 8; Campbell, 7; Cornell, 4; Hadlock, 5; Massie, 12; Williams, 10
Monett: Ballay, 2; Besch, 9; Coones, 23; Lee, 4; Paszek, 19; Turner, 4; Witt, 3
