By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
Mount Vernon owned a 1-0 lead and possession of the basketball before the clock began in Wednesday night’s Class 3 boys basketball sectional game against Seymour.
Both teams wore white uniforms when they took the floor for warmups, and Seymour — the designated visiting team — received a technical foul for having illegal uniforms.
“I hadn’t come out (of the locker room) yet, and my assistant came in and said ‘They’re wearing white, too,’ ” Mount Vernon head coach Skip Brock said. “They were on the top of the bracket, and in most tournaments the top team is the home team, but the information given to the district champion said that the bottom team on the bracket was the home team. I knew we were right.
“They didn’t bring their other uniforms. They couldn’t wear Southwest Baptist uniforms (the game was played at SBU) because that’s an NCAA violation. Robby Hoegh, the Bolivar High School coach, was at the game and offered to go get middle school uniforms because his (high school) uniforms were not available.
“Thirty minutes later we’re playing. We only missed three free throws but one of them was on the technical free throws. It was bizarre to say the least.”
The Mountaineers return to state tournament action today — they’ll again be wearing white — against Ava. Tipoff is at 1:45 p.m. at the Hammons Student Center on the Missouri State campus in Springfield.
Mount Vernon (23-7) shot 73 percent (22-of-30) from the field in its 64-52 victory over Seymour. Zack Kleine had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead the Mountaineers, and Shane Williams contributed 12 points.
“We were really efficient,” Brock said. “We got a lot of close shots to the basket, which is what we were hoping to do. We really played smart basketball.”
Ava (21-6) edged Hermann 53-48, giving the Bears a 15-game winning streak.
“Since Christmas they have played really well,” Brock said. “They have an outstanding post player (6-foot-5 Pete Leonard) and a really nice collection of perimeter guys around him who can drive it or shoot it. Coach (Cole) Dishman played at Ozark for Steve Hunter and does a lot of things Steve does, which I would, too.
“And they are defending really well. I think what impresses me the most is how they defend. We have to handle their pressure and also continue to try to get the ball inside. Obviously we have to defend well on the perimeter and make it hard for them to get the ball to the post player. At the same time we can’t let any of their other guys jump up and have a big game.”
