To be No.1, you’ve got to beat No. 1.
Mount Vernon did the later, and earned the former, with a win over Solon, 44-37, on Tuesday, Jan. 16.
And it didn’t come easy.
Solon built a 12-2 lead after one quarter, the only Mustang points coming off a Courtney Franck steal and layup.
“We really started off rough,” junior Chloe Meester said. “And we knew we did, too. We knew that we had to come back stronger. We had nothing to lose.”
Mount Vernon (13-1) trailed by eight at half. When Iowa recruit Callie Levin hit the third of her four 3-pointers it forced Coach Nate Sanderson to call a time out with 6:23 to play in the third quarter.
“We were trying to figure out the game on the fly,” Sanderson said. “Solon is so aggressive and physical; they make it hard to move the ball. They are so stifling defensively. It took us a while to figure out what to do with that”
But figure it out, the Mustangs did, going on a 14-0 run to take the lead.
“We just kind of started playing as a team,” sophomore Taylor Franck said. “We found out what was working well and went to that.”
Everything was working. The Mustangs were up by five, 30-25, after three quarters. 3-pointers from Levin and Hailey Miller that cut the lead to two, and three, respectively, didn’t rattle the Mustangs.
Instead, Courtney Franck responded with a driving layup, and Peyton Simpson hit a jumper to extend the lead to seven, 38-31.
Solon cut it to three points, 40-37, with a pair of Levin foul shots with 51.1 seconds left, but the Mustangs never let it get closer. Sydney Huber hit a pair of foul shots with 20.7 seconds left, and Courtney Franck iced it with a fastbreak layup.
“Solon is a team we’ve been chasing, and not just in the rankings this year,” Sanderson said. “Last year we lost by six at our place, by one here when we missed a shot at the buzzer. And lost by 14 in the regional final.
“This is a game that has been circled on the calendar for a while. We’ve used them as the measuring stick. They’ve always been in front of us.”
Courtney Francks and Meester led the Mustangs with 12 points apiece.
Levin finished with 23 points for Solon (12-2).
“She’s an amazing player,” Meester said. “And we knew we had to control her and not give her that many points.”
“Callie obviously is going to do what she does,” Sanderson said. “She’s good for 20 points no matter what you do to her.
“We were able to stay in our base defense.”
Mount Vernon mostly stayed in a 2-3 zone. But not many zones in the state have the Franck sisters pestering the other team like the Mustangs do. And Courtney Franck did it despite picking up three fouls early in the second quarter.
“I told her, I’m not taking you out of the game,” Sanderson said. “We can’t survive without her out there.”
“They have worked so hard,” Meester said of Courtney and Taylor. “It’s great knowing they can stop a really good player up there, then I don’t have to.”
“They are dynamic,” Sanderson said. “And I don’t know if it is telepathy or what, but they play together really well, and go on and off the ball. Taylor got matched up with Callie quite a bit tonight, and just did a great job moving her feet, chesting her up, not letting her get penetration.”
When the new rankings came out Thursday, Mount Vernon had moved from No. 2 to No. 1, and Solon dropped from No. 1 to No. 2.
The Mustangs then had to, unexpectedly, take that No. 1 ranking on the road. Due to an electrical problem in the Mount Vernon gym, their game against West Delaware on Friday, Jan. 19, went from home to away.
No matter. Mount Vernon won, 52-21.
The next day, they played No. 10 (4A) Marion at Cornell College. Mount Vernon won that, 44-36.
Meester had 17 points and 13 rebounds to pace the offense. Josie Niehaus came up with two big 3-pointers to get the offense going after trailing 21-15 at halftime.
“Being No. 1, we get everybody’s best effort,” Taylor Franck said. “The most exciting thing about this team, we’ve still got a lot of growth.”
And now is the best time to be No. 1, too. It likely ensures the Mustangs of getting the best path to state.
“If we can hold serve, we’ll get to be at home,” Sanderson said. “That was a huge advantage for Solon in our region last year.”
Mount Vernon tops Solon, now No. 1
January 25, 2024
About the Contributor
Ryan Suchomel, Sports Reporter
Ryan Suchomel is a sports reporter for the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.