By Stephen Buus (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Stockton — Two of the leading contenders to Strafford’s Class 3 Girls state championship met in the finals of the Stockton Invitational on Saturday, and top-seeded Mt. Vernon hung on for a 53-50 victory over second-seeded Clever.
The Lady Jays struggled early, committing 10 turnovers in the first quarter including three charges as the Mountaineers led 12-6.
But the tide turned at 5:02 of the second period when Mt. Vernon freshman guard Lacy Stokes was whistled for her third personal foul.
Clever took advantage by firing a barrage of three-pointers, three of them made by Allie Clevenger and two by Harper Little. A 15-0 run over the last 3:22 put Clever up 30-23 at halftime.
“It changes the complexion of the game on the defensive end,” said Mountaineer coach Dusty Killingsworth. “They did a great job shooting threes; [Little] and [Clevenger] are special at that. We didn’t do a very good job of understanding that in the second quarter. We don’t give up 24 points in a quarter very often, so we knew if we just controlled what we needed to control, then we could get back into the ballgame and do what we needed to do.
With defensive whiz Stokes back on the floor, Mt. Vernon reasserted itself in the third quarter and drew even at 42-42 with 16.3 seconds left on two free throws from Ashlyn McCanless.
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The Mountaineers challenged the Blue Jay defense big time in the final period, and cashed in 9 of their last 11 points from the free throw line. Clever did take a 51-50 lead with 4:00 remaining on a basket by Little, only to be answered 15 seconds later on a jumper by the Mountaineers’ Cameron Call. McCanless added one foul shot with 17 seconds remaining to make it 52-50, Mt. Vernon.
“They let us take the air out of the ball and we attacked a little when we needed to,” said Killingsworth. “There was some good discipline in the fourth to make them come out and check us and make them do the things we wanted to do and control and dictate. And that meant going to the free throw line for us.”
Clever then dribbled down to the 4.6 second mark and called time out. The Jays were unable to inbound the ball before the count of five, and the 20th turnover of the night turned out to be the most critical as a quick foul to Call added the final counter to Mt. Vernon’s total.
“Our ball control failed us,” said Clever coach Dan Jones. “When we set up our stuff and run it, we score. But when we don’t set up our stuff, and we don’t have the basketball because we’re turning it over, it makes it tough for us.”
“Our defense won the game; that was the difference,” said Killingsworth. “We knew that [Abi Menzies] was going to post and pop. We pinched her and we were fortunate that [Little] was throwing it in because we were able to bracket [Menzies] and face-guard [Clevenger]. We had backside help off of [Anna Kate Riley], so we didn’t let either one of them catch and it was a five-count and our girls did a great job guarding.”
Caitlin Hicks led the Mountaineers with 19 points, and helped take up the slack defensively when Stokes, who had 10, was out of the game with foul trouble. Call also added 10 points. Clevenger and Little shared scoring honors for the Jays with 16 each.
Mt. Vernon (15-2) next hosts Marshfield on Tuesday while Clever (12-5) travels to Fair Grove on Monday.
Clever 6 24 12 8—50
Mt. Vernon 12 11 19 11—53
Clever: Allie Clevenger 16, Harper Little 16, Abi Menzies 9, Madison Gladney 7, Tessa Newman 2.
Mt. Vernon: Caitlin Hicks 19, Lacy Stokes 10, Cameron Call 10, Camryn Eldridge 8, Ashlyn McCanless 6.
