No. 1 Mediapolis rallies past Mount Vernon

DES MOINES — The Mount Vernon Mustangs had top-ranked Mediapolis in unfamiliar territory.

Down at halftime.

'It was good adversity to work through,' said Mediapolis senior Andrea Larson. 'It showed our true character.'

Mediapolis zapped the Mustangs with a big third quarter and pulled away for a 63-53 victory in a Class 3A quarterfinal at the girls' state basketball tournament Tuesday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Bullettes (25-0) held the Mustangs to 25-percent shooting in the second half and marched to the 3A semifinals for the second straight year.

Mediapolis will face No. 7 Nevada (22-3) at 3:15 Thursday afternoon.

Mount Vernon (16-9) held a 30-25 lead at intermission thanks to a 16-3 run to close the first half. But the veteran Bullettes regrouped in the locker room and quickly regained control.

Jacque Murray opened the second half with two free throws to entend the margin to seven, but Mediapolis scored the next 14 points for a 39-32 advantage.

'We turned the ball over six straight times there, and you have to credit their defense,' said Mount Vernon's Alli Platte. 'They really came to play in the second half.

'We did our best, but our best wasn't good enough.'

Larson said, 'We were mentally a little tired at the end of the first half. But we knew we were fine. We like the first and third quarters. We like the big runs right away.'

Mediapolis extended the margin to 47-39 by the end of the third quatrer. Layups by Libby Ryan and Kaitlyn Volesky pulled the Mustangs within four, but that was as close as they got.

'I thought we ran them and got them tired by the end of the first half,' said Mustangs Coach Dennis Roloff. 'We needed to take more advantage than we did.

'I'm very proud of the girls. We gave them a scare.'

Larson led all scorers with 20 points. Darby Massner added 15, Ashley Hedges 11 for the Bullettes.

'We knew they had a strong inside game,' said Mount Vernon's Kaitlyn Volesky, who paced the Mustangs with 17 points and six rebounds. 'We tried to get them tired, but we couldn't hit enough shots.'

Mount Vernon was 4-of-27 from 3-point range. Libby Ryan added 10 points, Anne See nine.

Platte, the only senior who played significant minutes, had eight points and eight assists.

MEDIAPOLIS 63, MOUNT VERNON 53 (Class 3A State Quarterfinal)

At Des Moines

MOUNT VERNON (53): Haley Corkin 1-4 0-0 2, Jacque Murray 1-3 3-4 6, Libby Ryan 4-11 0-0 10, Alli Platte 4-14 0-1 8, Kaitlyn Volesky 8-12 1-2 17, Catherine Yeoman 0-0 0-0 0, McKayla Hartl 0-2 0-0 0, Alexis Kroeger 0-2 0-0 0, Sydney Hauser 0-1 0-1 0, Kristen Elliott 0-3 1-2 1, Lily Dahlstrom 0-1 0-0 0, Annie See 4-7 0-0 9, Delaney Dicus 0-2 0-0 0, Abbey Teubel 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-63 5-10 53.

MEDIAPOLIS (63): Darby Massner 4-10 5-5 15, Ashley Hedges 5-10 0-0 11, Andrea Larson 8-13 4-7 20, Mackenzie Rogers 3-8 3-4 9, Heidi Hillyard 2-6 2-6 6, Abby Eberhardt 0-0 0-0 0, Allie Massner 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-50 14-22 63.

Halftime: Mount Vernon 30, Mediapolis 25. 3-point goals: Mount Vernon 4-27 (Corkin 0-2, Murray 1-3, Ryan 2-6, Platte 0-7, Kroeger 0-2, Elliott 0-2, Dahlstrom 0-1, See 1-2, Teubel 0-2), Mediapolis 3-11 (D.Massner 2-5, Hedges 1-2, Rogers 0-3, A.Massner 0-1). Team fouls: Mount Vernon 17, Mediapolis 16. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Mount Vernon 32 (Volesky 6), Mediapolis 42 (Hillyard 11). Assists: Mount Vernon 14 (Platte 8), Mediapolis 11 (Rogers 7). Steals: Mount Vernon 9 (Platte 4), Mediapolis 6 (Larson, Rogers 2). Turnovers: Mount Vernon 15, Mediapolis 22.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com