The Mount Vernon varsity girls basketball season got off to a rocky start Saturday night, but the team bounced back to win their home opener against Western Dubuque 45-38.
The team’s leading returning scorer, junior Peyton Simpson, fell ill just before the game, and the coach’s expected rotation was now in disarray.
“Fortunately, (sophomore) Eryn Jackson stepped into the role and played the best game of her young career, totaling a career-high 19 points while shooting a blistering 6-7 from behind the 3-point line,” said Mustangs head coach Nate Sanderson. “Her three triples in the first half single-handedly kept us in the game when we struggled to score early after Western Dubuque opened the game with a 16-4 lead after the first quarter.”
After finding themselves in a 28-16 hole at halftime, the Mustangs stepped up their defense in the second half to hold the Bobcats to just 10 points total, while pumping in 29 points.
“The second half was an entirely different story,” Sanderson said. “We came out and made our first five 3-point field goal attempts to spur a 15-2 run that evened the game. Then, late in the fourth quarter, we closed the game on an 8-1 run including a huge 3-pointer by freshman Taylor Franck.
“Overall, it was a great team win. We got significant contributions from our bench,” said the coach.