The Mount Vernon Mustangs girls’ basketball team finished with 22 wins and four losses. Three of those losses were to teams that ended up winning a state championship – Clear Creek Amana in 4A, Solon in 3A, and North Linn in 1A.
“We were right in the mix there,” Mount Vernon coach Nate Sanderson said. “Credit to the players. They responded to the challenge and got better throughout the season.”
The fourth loss was to the Class 3A runner-up, Estherville-Lincoln Central, which beat Mount Vernon in the semifinal round of the state tournament, 45-37, Thursday, Feb. 29, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
The Midgets never trailed, and made things miserable for the Mustangs early, building a seven-point lead after one quarter, 12-5, and a 16-point lead by half, 28-12.
Mount Vernon shot just 5-of-21 in the first half (23.8 percent), including 1-of-8 from 3-point range (12.5 percent).
“First and foremost, we missed some shots we usually make,” Sanderson said. “We missed four or five bunnies at the rim.
“If we make a few of them, maybe it is a six-point game instead of 16 at half.”
On the flip side, 3A all-tournament captain Haylee Stokes hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter for ELC. Hillary Ruschy and Jasey Anderson added 3-pointers during an 8-0 run by the Midgets right before half.
ELC only made 4 (of 17) 3-pointers, but they made an impact early in the game.
“Some of their role-players made shots,” Sanderson said. “We felt good about our defense (on Stokes).”
Stokes finished with a game-high 15 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists (but scored 44 and 30 in her other two state tournament games). Yager had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Ruschy added 11 points.
Meester led Mount Vernon (22-4) with nine points and eight rebounds. Courtney Franck had nine points.
Mount Vernon finished with a season-low 37 points. (The previous low was 44 points in wins over Solon and Marion).
“We should have played it off the dribble more than forcing it inside,” Sanderson said. “ELC made it tough to get the ball on the block.”
The Mustangs trailed by as many as 20 points late in the third quarter. Mount Verno used an 8-0 run – including a 3-pointer from Peyton Simpson and two buckets by Courtney Franck — to get within 10 points with a minute remaining. But the run came too late.
ELC (24-2) shot 0-for-8 in the final quarter, but hit 5-of-6 at the line.
WaMaC rival Solon (24-3) defeated ELC in the championship, 54-47. Iowa recruit Callie Levin had 27 points and Stokes had 30 for the Midgets.
The Mustangs opened state tournament play with a dominating victory over Harlan, 67-25, on Monday, Feb. 26.
Everything was clicking and the Mustangs had four players reach double figures – Sydney Huber with 14 points, Peyton Simpson with 13, Taylor Franck with 12, and Chloe Meester with 11, to go with 10 rebounds for a double-double.
“We obviously shot the ball well, with a 3A record for threes in a game (14),” Sanderson said. “We did a nice job of moving the basketball. Six different players made threes. We shot with confidence.”
Meester was named to the 3A All-Tournament team. She had 20 points and 18 rebounds in her two games in Wells Fargo.
“Chloe does so much to change the game at both ends,” Sanderson said. “She is the career leaders in blocks, already, at Mount Vernon. The biggest difference for her this year was her ability to rebound. She became a much more physical and aggressive rebounder.”
Sanderson said the Mustangs’ scout team helped prepare them for the Cyclones.
Mount Vernon enjoyed its first state trip since 2016, spending the week preparing for Wells Fargo with a trip to Shoot 360 and to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, among other team-building activities.
“That’s one of the fun things about making state,” Sanderson said. “We got to be together another couple of weeks. That is a cool experience.
“Great memories for the kids that hopefully they’ll hang on to for a long time.”
The Mustangs say goodbye to Simpson – as well as Lillian Wischmeyer, Josie Niehaus and Brynley Rasmussen — but return their other four starters for 2024-25.
“I suppose we’ll be ranked in the Top 3 in the preseason,” Sanderson said. “We have a nice core of players coming back. It will be fun.
“Watching the state championship, there is a huge appetite for us to do more work in the offseason to get in that game next year.”
Mustangs 67, Cyclones 25
HARLAN (25) – Hannah Sonderman 2-6 0-0 5, Molly Swensen 1-5 0-0 3, Aubrey Schwieso 2-11 2-2 7, Ava Monson 2-8 0-0 6, Erica Rust 1-10 0-2 2, Kara Kenkel 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Schmitz 0-0 0-0 0, Grace Albertsen 0-1 0-0 0, Brinley Van Baale 0-0 0-0 0, Addison Wicks 0-0 0-0 0, Kate Koesters 0-0 0-0 0, Kenzley Bruck 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 9-44 2-4 25.
MOUNT VERNON (67) – Courtney Franck 1-3 0-0 2, Taylor Franck 5-7 0-0 12, Chloe Meester 4-6 3-3 11, Sydney Huber 5-13 0-0 14, Peyton Simpson 5-9 0-0 13, Alivia Truitt 1-1 0-0 3, Lillian Wischmeyer 0-0 0-0 0, Eryn Jackson 3-4 0-0 9, Lucy Wischmeyer 0-0 0-0 0, Sophia Meester 0-0 0-0 0, Josie Niehaus 1-2 0-0 3, Brynley Rasmussen 0-0 0-0 0, Rylee Rasmussen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-45 3-3 67.
Harlan 10 5 6 4 – 25
Mount Vernon 17 23 18 9 – 67
3-point goals – Harlan 5-22 (Sonderman 1-4, Swensen 1-5, Schwieso 1-7, Monson 2-6), MV 14-24 (C.Franck 0-1, T.Franck 2-3, Huber 4-8, Simpson 3-6, Truitt 1-1, Jackson 3-4, Niehaus 1-1). Rebounds – Harlan 23 (Rust 7), MV 33 (C.Meester 10). Assists – Harlan 5, MV 16 (C.Franck 5). Turnovers – Harlan 14, MV 10. Total fouls – Harlan 8, MV 6.
Midgets 45, Mustangs 37
MOUNT VERNON (37) – Courtney Franck 4-8 1-4 9, Taylor Franck 1-13 1-2 4, Chloe Meester 4-6 1-2 9, Sydney Huber 2-9 0-0 5, Peyton Simpson 2-8 0-0 5, Lillian Wischmeyer 0-0 0-0 0, Eryn Jackson 1-2 0-0 0, Josie Niehaus 0-1 0-0 0, Brynley Rasmussen 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 14-48 5-10 37.
ESTHERVILLE-LINCOLN CENTRAL (45) – Tatum Dunlavy 1-2 0-0 2, Rylee Yager 6-11 2-2 14, Jasey Anderson 1-7 0-0 3, Haylee Stokes 4-11 5-6 15, Hillary Ruschy 4-12 2-2 11, Cara Schiltz 0-3 0-0 0, Morgan Clabaugh 0-0 0-0 0, Lexi Juergens 0-0 0-0 0, Zoey Deruyter 0-0 0-0 0, Julissa Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-46 9-10 45.
Mount Vernon 5 7 10 15 – 37
Estherville-LC 12 16 12 5 – 45
3-point goals – MV 4-18 (C.Franck 0-1, T.Franck 1-5, Huber 1-5, Simpson 1-4, Jackson 1-2, Niehaus 0-1), ELC 4-17 (Dunlavy 0-1, Anderson 1-5, Stokes 2-5, Ruschy 1-4, Schiltz 0-2). Rebounds – MV 32 (Meester 8), ELC 33 (Yager 12). Assists – MV 6 (T.Franck 2), ELC 12 (Stokes 6). Turnovers – MV 12, ELC 11. Total fouls – MV 10, ELC 12.

Gallery • 2 Photos

Sahithi Shankaiahgari/The Daily Iowan

Josie Niehaus reaches for the ball during the girls State Basketball Tournament Central quarterfinals between No. 4 Mount Vernon and No. 5 Harlan at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.