Between ranked Class 5A opponents and the bite of the injury bug, it has been a rocky start to the season for No. 5 (3A) Mount Vernon girls’ basketball.

Northern Iowa signee Taylor Franck was in a walking boot over the weekend after injuring her calf earlier in the week.

“She is day to day,” Mount Vernon coach Jacob Misener said. “We’re going to bubble wrap her and hope we’ll get her back soon.”

Franck was hurt Tuesday, Dec. 2, in a 55-44 loss at No. 4 (5A) Cedar Rapids Prairie.

The Mustangs followed that up with a 52-15 WaMaC win over Grinnell on Friday, Dec. 5. Then closed the week with a 48-37 loss to No. 8 (5A) Iowa City West at Rivalry Saturday in Anamosa.

“We’ll never turn down Rivalry Saturday,” Misener said.

The Trojans made 12 3-pointers. It was the Mustangs (2-2) third game against a ranked 5A team in the first two weeks.

“We want to play these teams early in the year, because they get us to where we want to go,” Misener said. “These teams help show us what we need to focus on. No one likes losing, but we glean so much form playing these teams.”

Savanna Wright had 17 points against West. Courtney Franck had nine rebounds.

Against Prairie, Wright had 14 points and Taylor Franck had 14 points and six rebounds before her injury.

“She is so impactful,” Misener said. “Her ability to dribble-penetrate. Right now, we don’t have another player willing to do that. Her nasty mentality unlocks our offense.”

In the win over Grinnell, Lucy Wischmeyer led the team with 16 points. Wright added 13 and Quinn Pershing had 11 points. Courtney Franck had five rebounds, six assists and five steals.

“We challenged the girls to stay sharp and uphold our standard of play,” Misener said.