Mount Vernon comes from way, way back

MARION — Alli Platte gave an honest answer to the question everyone was asking:

How on earth did that happen?

'Your guess is as good as mine,' she said. 'We were just going to fight. I didn't know if we were going to win, but we were going to go down fighting.'

Mount Vernon raced back from a 16-point halftime deficit to shock No. 6 Center Point-Urbana, 55-48, in a Class 3A girls' basketball regional final Saturday night at Linn-Mar High School.

'At halftime, I told them we had them right where we wanted,' said Mustangs Coach Dennis Roloff, only half-kidding. 'We came out in a different press and we just had to keep running.'

Mount Vernon (16-8) advanced to the state tournament. The Mustangs will face No. 1 Mediapolis (24-0) at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, March 3.

Roloff, who came to Mount Vernon after a long successful career at Cedar Rapids Kennedy, ranked Saturday's victory 'one of the top five of my career, for sure,' he said.

It had to be one of the most unlikely. Not because of the result — he is 4-0 against CPU — but because of the way it happened.

For much of the first half, the Stormin' Pointers (19-5) looked invincible and a sure thing to their 15th straight win.

Arika Wooldridge scored the first seven points of the game. It was 21-6 after a quarter, 26-8 when LaMia Sisk scored at the 5:59 mark of the second quarter and 36-20 at the half.

'They're a great team. They played amazing in the first half,' said Mount Vernon's Libby Ryan.

But the Mustangs scored the first eight points after intermission, and the battle was on.

Mount Vernon closed within 40-36 by the end of the third quarter, tied it at 42-42 on Jacque Murray's 3-pointer at the 4:55 mark, then took the lead for good on Ryan's baseline with 3:30 to go.

The Mustangs owned the second half, 35-12, holding Wooldridge scoreless in the second half after she tallied 16 in the first.

'Coach put Jacque on her, and she was told to follow her wherever she went,' Ryan said. 'Then our box had to clog up the lane.'

CPU employs five freshmen in key roles. Coach Philip Klett didn't blame youth for the defeat.

'No, it wasn't that,' he said. 'We just made mistakes. They have young kids too, and they made plays.'

Platte led the Mustangs with 14 points. Ryan and Kristen Elliott added 13 apiece. And Ryan grabbed nine rebounds from the guard position.

Payton Hasleiet tallied 10 for CPU to complement Wooldridge's 16. But the Stormin' Pointers made just 4 shots in 30 attempts in the second half.

MOUNT VERNON 55, CENTER POINT-URBANA 48 (Class 3A Regional Final)

At Linn-Mar

MOUNT VERNON (55): Hayley Corkin 1-4 0-0 2, Jacque Murray 1-5 1-3 4, Libby Ryan 5-18 1-3 13, Alli Platte 4-10 4-4 14, Kaitlyn Volesky 4-6 1-2 9, Kristen Elliott 5-10 2-2 13, Annie See 0-2 0-0 0, Delaney Dicus 0-1 0-0 0, Alexis Kroeger 0-1 0-0 0, Abbey Teubel 0-0 0-0 0, Catherine Yeoman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 9-14 55.

CENTER POINT-URBANA (48): Allie Wooldridge 3-11 2-4 8, Payton Hasleiet 3-8 2-2 10, LaMia Sissk 4-11 0-0 8, Olivia Brecht 1-8 0-0 2, Arika Wooldridge 5-16 5-5 16, Sydney Boevers 0-1 1-2 1, Claire Holtz 0-0 0-0 0, Claire Chandler 0-1 0-0 0, Raegan Dufoe 1-4 1-1 3. Totals 17-60 11-14 48.

Halftime: CPU 36, Mount Vernon 20. 3-point goals: Mount Vernon 6-26 (Corkin 0-2, Murray 1-1, Ryan 2-11, Platte 2-5, Volesky 0-1, Elliott 1-4, Dicus 0-1, Kroeger 0-1), CPU 3-15 (Al.Wooldridge 0-2, Hasleiet 2-4, Brecht 0-4, Ar.Wooldridge 1-4, Boevers 1-1). Team fouls: Mount Vernon 13, CPU 17. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Mount Vernon 41 (Ryan, Volesky 9), CPU 42 (Ar.Wooldridge 9). Assists: Mount Vernon 8 (Ryan, Platte 3), CPU 5 (Brecht 2). Steals: Mount Vernon 11 (Corkin, Elliott 3), CPU 12 (Sisk, Ar.Wooldridge 4). Turnovers: Mount Vernon 15, CPU 16.

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