Mount Vernon boys basketball shook up its starting lineup Friday, Jan. 16, during a 75-50 win at Independence.

With a number of players taking part in J-term trips to Florida or Italy, they missed a week of practice.

“I just wanted to reward the kids that were around, working hard,” coach Derek Roberts said. “I thought they really executed their jobs well and played within themselves in the first quarter.”

Mount Vernon (8-1, 6-1) got out to a 24-12 lead with three backups – seniors Landon Wilson, Jayden Scieszinski and Logan Stenerson – getting their first start.

“I think we didn’t really have a drop off,” Brogan Meyer said. “Everybody comes in every single day and works hard. We came out super aggressive.”

Of course, when the normal starters subbed in, they won the second quarter, 18-2.

“The guys who were on the trip came out like they were shot out of a cannon,” Roberts said. “And that helped us push that big first-half lead.”

And it didn’t hurt that Kellen Haverback, who scored 24 of his 29 points in the first half, was still around.

“Oh, man,” Meyer said. “When he’s on, you’ve got to pass him the ball and let him do his thing.”

Independence (2-9, 2-5) pushed back a little bit in the third quarter. After trailing 42-14 at half and 54-21 midway through the third, they finished the quarter with a 14-0 run.

But that only cut the lead to 19, 54-35, and Mount Vernon opened the final quarter with a 11-2 run of its own.

Maddox Thede had 14 points off the bench. Scieszinski and Meyer each added seven points.

The win sets up a big week against WaMaC East foes Marion (6-5, 5-3) on Tuesday, Jan. 20, and No. 6 Solon ( 12-0, 9-0) on Friday, Jan. 23. Both games are in Mount Vernon. The Spartans handed the Mustangs their only loss back on Dec. 16 in Solon, 57-56.