Linda Lako
Mount Vernon’s A.J. McDermott (No. 12) tries to get off a shot against Keokuk Thursday.
There’s not a lot of players than can push future Northern Iowa offensive lineman Joe Briesemeister, who is 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, off the block. But Keokuk’s 6-foot-11, 250-pound junior Jaxon Clark is one. Clark and the Chiefs got pushy, and pushed the Mustangs out of the Class 3A postseason 51-47 on Thursday, Feb. 27, in Mount Vernon.
“It was a game of swings,” junior Kellen Haverback said. “We hit, they hit back. Those are fun games to be in.
“They had a great game plan. They got the ball inside and he’s a stud.”
Clark, who is getting looks from Big Ten schools, piled up 18 points and 13 rebounds for Keokuk. More importantly, he had seven points in the final quarter as the Chiefs stayed one step ahead of the Mustangs.
“Every possession matters,” Briesemeister said. “And we just threw too many away tonight.”
It was a one-point game at halftime, 27-26, and a two-point game after three quarters, 40-38. The Chiefs leading both times. But Mount Vernon led with two minutes to play, 47-46, after a Haverback 3-pointer. But Clark scored in the paint to retake the lead for
Keokuk.
Senior AJ McDermott had his shot blocked by Brenton Hoard on the next trip down the floor. Hoard hit 1-of-2 at the foul line, and then Briesemeister missed a 3-pointer at the other end. Clark hit a pair of free throws with 10.7 seconds left to provide the final margin.
“Our guys competed really hard,” Mount Vernon coach Derek Roberts said. “(Clark) is unbelievable. He is everything everyone talks about. Our gameplan was surrounded around him.” In the end, the Mustangs just didn’t shoot it all that well. They were 20 of 54 overall (37 percent), and 5 of 22 from 3-point range (22.7 percent).
“I think we got great looks,” Haverback said. “But sometimes at key moments, it doesn’t fall. We trust our guys. We trust them to shoot it, and sometimes it doesn’t fall.”
Briesemeister didn’t dominate the paint like he usually does with Clark in the lane, but still finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
“I just gave it my best,” Briesemeister said. “It’s not like football. You can’t just hit them. You’ve got to work around the rules of basketball. He’s great. His positioning; sealing off. So, it was a battle all night.”
Haverback had a game-high 21 points.
“We had some open looks that just didn’t go down,” Roberts said. “That’s how it happens, sometimes. They just made one more play than we did.”
Keokuk (17-7) advanced to face No. 3 Knoxville (23-0) in a Class 3A substate final Monday, March 3.
Mount Vernon earned the right to face Keokuk after downing Fairfield 66-57 in a Class 3A quarterfinal game Monday, Feb. 24, in Mount Vernon.
The Mustangs led 14-12 after one quarter and never gave up the lead, even as the Trojans (6-16) made it close in the final quarter. Briesemeister had 22 points and nine rebounds, followed by Haverback with 17 points and Luke Rushford with 12 points.Mount Vernon finished17-6.
“I think expectations of people in the community is that the basketball team is going to be about .500 this year,” Robert said. “We had a lot of sophomores playing, and we played just two games with our entire roster. It was just sudden change after sudden change. “I’m really proud of our guys. We overachieved a little bit. Credit to the guys.”
The Mustangs will miss their seniors, but return their No. 2 scorer, Haverback, and several sophomores that played quality minutes (Luke Rushford, Seth Rushford, Stratton Ellyson and Maddox Thede).
“We had our own goals, and I think we wanted more,” Haverback said. “We’ll be ready for next year.”