By Mark Eddlemon
sports@joplinglobe.com
BOLIVAR, Mo. — Mount Vernon used swarming halfcourt zone defense and a precision passing attack to roll past Springfield Catholic 54-34 in the Class 3 girls basketball sectionals at Southwest Baptist on Wednesday.
Mount Vernon (27-3) will face Hermann (26-3) at noon on Saturday in the Class 3 quarterfinals in Missouri State’s Hammons Student Center in Springfield.
Six different Mount Vernon players had at least one steal and one assist in the game, and the Mountaineers finished with 14 assists and 10 steals as a team.
“The girls are very unselfish,” Mount Vernon coach Doug Hepler said. “They are willing to accept any role, and one of the roles we want them to take is to move the ball to the player who’s feeling it.”
Danielle Goodman led the Mountaineer scoring with 18 points, hitting 7-of-13 field goals, including 4-of-8 treys. Goodman, a 5-foot-7 sophomore, also contributed six rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Kenzie Williams finished with a fantastic statistical line for Mount Vernon. The 5-foot-9 junior scored 17 points, hitting 6-of-9 field goals and 3-of-5 treys. Williams was the leading rebounder in the game with nine, led in assists with five and also had three steals and a block.
“We try to move the ball as fast as we can and get it to the hot hand.” Williams said. “Tonight, Danielle had the hot hand.”
Tamiaya Henderson came off the bench to contribute 13 points (hitting 6-of-8 field goals) and six rebounds, and Amelia Bramer had four assists and five rebounds.
“We changed up our defense tonight, and I thought that might have got them on their heels.” Hepler said. “In the second half, we hit some shots and got the momentum, and in this game, momentum is big.”
Danielle Lampe, 5-5 senior, had eight rebounds, six steals and three assists for Catholic. Bekah Bade led the scoring with nine points for the Irish (18-10), who lost for the second time to Mount Vernon.
The Mountaineers went on a 10-0 run after Catholic scored the first basket. Treys by Williams and Goodman and a putback by Bramer keyed that run. The Irish answered with an 8-0 run keyed by treys from Bade and Lampe.
Mount Vernon led 14-13 after one period, then started the second quarter with an 8-3 run. Williams and Goodman had two field goals each during the run. Goodman finished with eight points in the second period, helping the Mountaineers to a 29-22 lead.
Each of the Mount Vernon starters had a steal and an assist in the first half, and Williams had six rebounds. All of Catholic’s second period points were scored by reserves, with Emily Loethen scoring five to lead the way.
The Mountaineer defense allowed just one field goal in the third period, breaking the game open by outscoring Catholic 20-3. Williams hit a pair of treys in the third quarter and Henderson scored nine points as Mount Vernon used an inside-out attack effectively.
