Mt. Vernon boys, girls basketball both down Monett squads

Both Mt’neer teams fall to Nevada, Lady Mt’neers look for next win at Springfield Catholic tomorrow night
 
The Mt. Vernon High School boys’ basketball team hosted Monett on Friday, Jan. 9 and came away with a 48-45 win.
The Mt’neers led 13-10 after the first quarter but a four-point second quarter saw the Cubs take a 24-17 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Mt. Vernon was able to trim the Monett lead by outscoring the Cubs 15-13 to trail 37-32 heading into the final quarter of the game. The Mountaineers doubled up Monett in the fourth quarter, 16-8 to win the game by three points.
Hunter Dawson led Mt. Vernon with 19 points.
“After the tough loss on the road to Nevada the players responded with a great week of practice and preparing for Monett,” said head coach Ryan Worley. “The players helped the coaches put together our scouting report this week by studying film and researching information on our opponent. That shows ownership by the players to be at their best each night. Even though we struggled through the second quarter a bit the players continued to stay engaged throughout the game in helping the coaches make adjustments that allowed us to be in a position to win.”
The Mt’neers started the week by traveling to Nevada on Tuesday, Jan. 6 and came home with a 44-37 loss.
Mt. Vernon led 9-4 after the first quarter but a 16-point second quarter allowed the Wildcats to take a 21-17 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Nevada outscored Mt. Vernon, 14-10 to increase their lead to 35-27. The Mt’neers outscored the Wildcats 10-9 in the final quarter of play.
Hunter Conway led Mt. Vernon with 19 points and Dawson added 10 points in the loss.
“We competed hard tonight but never seemed to get into a good rhythm on offense,” said Worley. “Nevada had a lot to do with that by mixing up their defenses, but we need to focus on not turning the ball over as much per game. Considering how well we are defending other teams, holding a very good Nevada team to 44 points, when we clean up some of our mistakes on offense then some of these close games will begin to go our way.”
The Mt’neers are now 5-8 on the season and were scheduled to play against Hollister last night.

Girls basketball
The Lady Mt’neers hosted Monett on Thursday, Jan. 8 and came away with the 57-51 win.
Mt. Vernon led 15-9 after the first quarter and were able to increase that lead to 28-20 by the half. In the third quarter, the Lady Mt’neers added 15 points to lead 43-33. In the fourth quarter Monett was able to put up 18 points, but it wasn‚Äôt enough as the Lady Mt’neers got the six-point win.
Elli Eddington finished the game with a double-double, scoring 20 points and adding 11 rebounds, Mary Fields and Bella Hernandez each had 11 points in the victory.
“It was a great win against a hometown rival and district opponent,” said head coach Alexis Cauthon. “We took much better care of the basketball and did a good job finding each other, which shows the progress we’re making. We’re developing into the team we know we can be, but we can’t stop here‚ this win should help push us toward reaching our full potential.”
Mt. Vernon opened the week by traveling to Nevada on Monday, Jan. 5 but came home with a 45-31 loss.
The Lady Wildcats led 15-8 after the first quarter and 32-17 at the half. A 10-point third quarter saw Nevada increase their lead to 42-23. Mt. Vernon outscored Nevada 8-3 in the fourth quarter.
Eddington led Mt. Vernon with 14 points.
“It was another tough loss to a good district team, but our defense continues to improve, and we did a solid job limiting their scoring,” said Cauthon. “Offensively, we’re still young, but this adversity doesn’t define us. We’re growing and improving every day, and experiences like this are making us stronger.”
The Lady Mt’neers are 3-8 on the season and were scheduled to play at El Dorado Springs on Monday and Springfield Catholic tomorrow night.