Mount Vernon to state tourney after blowout of Mediapolis

This story is by Matt Levins of the Burlington Hawk Eye (www.thehawkeye.com)

MOUNT PLEASANT -- Mediapolis High School boys basketball coach Greg Worrall knew his team would have to have all the stars align if his team was to give sixth-ranked Mount Vernon a run for a berth in the state tournament. Instead, the Mustangs knocked the Bulldogs' stars out of alignment - literally.In the third minute of the 60-37 loss in the Class 2A substate final Saturday night at Mount Pleasant High School, the Bulldogs were dealt a crippling blow when starting forward Wil Janssen left the game with a broken nose. He spent most of the rest of the game at the hospital.Then in the third quarter, starting guard Jordan Wagenbach went to the bench with four fouls. With two starters out of the game, Mediapolis watched the Mustangs go on a big run, pulling away for a victory.Mount Vernon (20-4) advances to the state tournament to play ninth-ranked North Cedar (20-4) in a quarterfinal game at 8:15 p.m. on March 5 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Mediapolis, which was seeking its first appearance at state since 1975, ends the season with a 20-4 record.

"We had to play flawless tonight. They're a good basketball team," Worrall said of Mount Vernon. "It was a fun year. This was a great bunch of kids to coach. People talk about how they are basketball-wise and athletic-wise and what they provide. I challenge you to meet any one of those 14 kids that are in our locker room and not say that they're good men and they're good kids. They make our basketball team good, but they also make our school a fun place to be."

Mount Vernon got the first big break of the game - literally - when Janssen was hit on the bridge of the nose just 2 minutes, 8 seconds into the game. Janssen, who averaged eight points and six rebounds and was the heart and soul of the Bulldogs' interior, would not return.

"That changes our rotation a little bit. We won't blame the loss on that, but that hurts us. That takes away a fine athlete and a fine kid," Worrall said. "I don't think our kids hung their heads, that's a credit to them. They didn't quit and say, 'Where's Wil at?' They went out and reacted and did what they needed to do and played as hard as they could. They kept playing, plugging away."

With Janssen out, the Mustangs raced to a 9-0 lead. Jacob Timm came up with a steal and converted it into a layup. Senior Micah Russell sank a pair of free throws and a short jumper. Senior Jack Keleher stepped back and buried a 3-pointer.

Just 2:43 into the game, the Bulldogs were without one of their leaders and were staring up at a nine-point deficit.

Mediapolis missed four shots inside and a 3-pointer in the opening minutes.

"I thought it was going to have a bigger effect, but I thought we fought back into it after we missed three or four layups to start the game. We fought back in it and had it to four or five and had our chances," Worrall said.

Mediapolis battled back. Jordan Wagenbach sank a pull-up jumper. Jesse Ertz scored on a fall-away jumper. Jacob Darbyshire sank a free throw. Wagenbach nailed a jumper.

Just like that, the Bulldogs were within 9-7. That would be as close as they would get.

Ertz and Darbyshire, the Bulldogs' top two scorers, were held to a combined 15 points on 6-of-24 shooting.

"We hang our hat on being able to guard. We thought coming in we had to take Ertz, limit his touches and keep him out of the paint. We did a pretty good job of that for the most part. He's so dangerous when he gets to the paint because he passes it, shoots it. I thought we did a really good job of keeping him out of the paint, keeping him a little bit further away than where he wanted to be. I thought that really helped us," Mount Vernon coach Ed Timm said. "We watched them on film. Darbyshire really shoots the three well. We really wanted to get up into him and make him put it on the floor before he shot it. Our kids did a really good job of executing the game plan."

"A lot of that goes to their defense. Credit them. They were all over the place. We still had some good looks. In a situation like that they're tough to knock down," Worrall said.

Mediapolis pulled within 27-23 on a 3-pointer by Ertz to start the third quarter.

But the stars just would not align for the Bulldogs. Moments later, Wagenbach picked up his fourth foul.

With Mediapolis down two starters, the Mustangs went on a 13-3 run to put the game out of reach. Keleher drained a pair of 3-pointers to spark the spurt.

"Jake (Timm) just drives and gives me open shots. My teammates find me open shots and I knock them down when we need them," Keleher said. "We just keep getting people rotated in so we can keep pushing them. Eventually they wear down and then we take advantage of that."

"All year we've been a really good third quarter team. We like to think we can wear teams down. We try to push the ball on offense and we're really getting out in the lanes and being aggressive on defense. That has a tendency to wear teams down," Coach Timm said.

"You hear about their defense," Worrall said. "Their defense is outstanding. They play half-court defense the right way. They are all over the place."

Mediapolis loses three seniors in Janssen, Joe Fedoris and Darbyshire. They return a solid group next year.

"We're going to miss those three seniors. Those are three great kids. They are great leaders and make sure people do what we're supposed to do. They are a wonderful addition to our school," Worrall said.

AT MOUNT PLEASANT

MEDIAPOLIS (37):Jesse Ertz 4-12 1-4 10, Jacob Darbyshire 2-12 1-2 5, Jordan Wagenbach 4-9 1-1 9, Wil Janssen 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Fedoris 3-4 0-0 6, Dalton Scott 0-0 0-2 0, Dustin Belknap 0-2 0-0 0, Forestt Stellern 0-1 0-0 0, Caleb Gerst 2-3 3-4 7, Brody Armstrong 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Mike Rubey 0-0 0-0 0, Elijah Wolfe 0-0 0-1 0. Totals: 15-44 6-14 37.MOUNT VERNON (60):  Hunter Ruth 0-0 0-0 0, Will Tuebel 1-1 1-1 3, Jacob Timm 2-9 3-4 7, Micah Russell 7-12 5-7 20, Jack Keleher 6-14 0-1 15, Conner Shaffer 4-9 0-1 8, Zach Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Minor 1-2 2-2 5, Calvin Kragenbrink 1-2 0-0 2, Marshall Tuerler 0-0 0-0 0, Garrett Ruth 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Muller 0-0 0-0 0, Marshall Kray 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Walker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-49 11-16 60.Halftime - Mount Vernon 27, Mediapolis 20. Total fouls - Mediapolis 14, Mount Vernon 17. Fouled out - None. 3-point goals - Mediapolis 1-15 (Ertz 1-7, Gerst 0-1, Wagenbach 0-2, Darbyshire 0-5), Mount Vernon 5-15 (Keleher 3-8, Russell 1-2, Minor 1-2, Timm 0-3).