3rd-quarter surge carries Mount Vernon past Benton

DES MOINES -- Bring on the rubber match.

Mustangs-Sabers III. Winner goes to the finals.

Second-ranked Mount Vernon pulled away with a 15-3 run to close the third quarter and downed No. 13 Benton Community, 53-38, in a Class 3A quarterfinal at the girls' state basketball tournament Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Mustangs (23-2) advance to face Wamac Conference East Division rival DeWitt Central at 7:45 Thursday night. The sixth-ranked Sabers upended No. 3 MOC-Floyd Valley, 47-37, Tuesday.

Mount Vernon and Central split their two regular-season meetings, both winning on their home floors.

"We're excited to see them again," said Mount Vernon Coach Bob Kintzel. "They know us. We know them."

A first-time state qualifier (and the owner of a vast partisan advantage in the stands), Benton Community retired at 20-5. The Bobcats were within 26-23 early in the third quarter, but the Mustangs had a game-breaking surge in them.

Micah Wieditz started it with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Then after Courtney Kintzel and Amanda Platte combined for 3 of 4 free throws, Wieditz stole the ball at midcourt, sailed in for a layup and was fouled.

She added the free throw. Then, on the Mustangs' next possesion, she banked in a runner from the right side.

That made it 37-23, and it was 41-26 at the end of the period.

"I think I just got more of a feel for the game (in the second half)," Wieditz said. "Everybody was doing great, and we were feeding off each other."

Taylor Dicus, last year's all-tournament captain in leading the Mustangs to the 2A championship, posted 15 points and 13 rebounds. Wieditz added 11 points -- all in the second half -- and Amanda Platte scored 10. Courtney Kintzel registered nine points and nine boards.

"We just had to limit out turnovers in the second half," Dicus said. "We did that. And we played hard defense."

The third-quarter surge wasn't Mount Vernon's first of the game. The Mustangs scored 12 straight in the first quarter for a 12-2 advantage.

But the Bobcats stabilized and trailed only 22-19 at halftime.

"We were where we wanted to be at halftime," said Benton's Madison Weekly, who led her team with 12 points. "We were right there in it."

Benton Coach Laurie Donald said, "I really thought we could make a run in the second half. But we struggled to put the ball in the basket and we struggled to get our transition game going."

Mount Vernon enjoyed a 34-21 advantage on the boards.

AT DES MOINES

BENTON COMMUNITY (38): Madison Weekly 3-14 5-8 12, Abbie Prusha 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Renfer 1-7 1-2 4, Katie Kullmer 4-10 0-1 8, Sara Petrzelka 2-3 2-2 6, Ashley Mills 0-0 0-0 0, Jordyn Brunssen 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsey Kuester 2-4 0-0 4, Beth Thompson 0-0 1-2 1, Becca Bridgewater 0-1 0-0 0, Kelsey Brecht 1-2 1-1 3, Alicia Gage 0-0 0-0 0, Mikayla Larsen 0-0 0-0 0, Ellie Embray 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-42 10-16 38.

MOUNT VERNON (53): Liz Skotowski 0-3 1-2 1, Taylor Dicus 6-10 3-7 15, Courtney Kintzel 2-3 5-6 9, Micah Wieditz 3-7 4-5 11, Amanda Platte 2-2 6-10 10, Miranda Chapman 1-2 0-0 2, Kylea Weber 0-3 0-0 0, Sarah Ryan 2-2 1-2 5, Emma Pisarik 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Wieditz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-33 20-32 53.

Halftime: Mount Vernon 22, Benton 19. 3-point goals: Benton 2-9 (Weekly 1-5, Renfer 1-4), Mount Vernon 1-7 (Skotowski 0-2, M.Wieditz 1-4, Chapman 0-1). Team fouls: Benton 23, Mount Vernon 15. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Benton 21 (Kullmer 7), Mount Vernon 34 (Dicus 13). Assists: Benton 9 (Weekly 5), Mount Vernon 6 (Platte 2). Steals: Benton 14 (Weekly 8), Mount Vernon 14 (Kintzel 4). Turnovers: Benton 21, Mount Vernon 22. 

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