GBB: Marauders returning to State Finals

Archived webcast

Mt. Vernon is returning to the girls basketball State Finals.

The Marauders completed the run back to the Hulman Center with a 59-51 victory over fellow Hoosier Heritage Conference foe Rushville Saturday afternoon at Richmond's Tiernan Center.

MV used a huge start -- jumping out to leads of 6-0, 17-2 and 22-4 -- to lead from wire-to-wire. Sydney Shelton and Erica Moore had six points each in the opening quarter as the Marauders led 17-2 before Rushville's Mckenzie Campbell scored just ahead of the horn.

Shaely Duff had a huge night with 15 points. She hit a big 3-pointer and scored five second-quarter points to help the Marauders build a 33-18 lead at the half. Rachel Houck added two first-half 3-pointers and scored eight first-half points.

The Lions got hot in the third quarter. Led by Campbell, Rushville began to climb back into the game. Campbell scored eight third-quarter points, and then sophomore Sarah Cook warmed up in the fourth to get the deficit inside single digits early in the fourth. Rushville cut MV's lead to 45-40 midway through the fourth, and again at 49-45, but the Lions were unable to hit a couple of late shots and the Marauders hit key free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Shelton scored 18 points, including 10-of-10 from the line. She hit eight free throws in the fourth quarter -- MV shot just 5-of-19 in the second half, but was 15-of-19 from the line in the fourth quarter. Shelton also had five rebounds and three assists. Duff had 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, with two big 3-pointers. Moore had 14 points and nine rebounds. Houck added eight first-half points.

For Rushville, Campbell scored 16 points -- 12 in the second half -- on 8-of-17 shooting. Rushville was 11-of-22 from the floor in the second half after hitting just 6-of-24 in the opening half. Both teams were nearly identical from the floor -- MV was 17-of-47, Rushville 17-of-46. MV hit 21-of-25 from the line, while Rushville was 16-for-20.

Cook had 14 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter. She was 8-of-10 from the line. Keragan Niehoff had 12 points and seven boards. Rushville outrebounded MV 33-28, but the Marauders forced 19 turnovers, eight more than they committed.

Both teams are now 22-4. The Marauders will move on to the State Finals to face Hamilton Heights. The two teams played earlier this season, and the Huskies beat MV 70-61 on Nov. 21. The live webcast will be at HancockCountySports.com with extended pregame coverage beginning at 5 p.m., and also extended postgame coverage after the game with reaction, interviews and more.