North Cedar finishes strong, blows past Mount Vernon

CEDAR RAPIDS  -  North Cedar didn't feel like it had to play a perfect game against Mount Vernon in order to advance to its fourth straight state tournament. It just looked like it.

Trailing by as many as seven points in the third quarter, North Cedar closed the game with a 34-12 ambush in ousting Mount Vernon, 63-48, in a Class 2A substate final Saturday night at Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

"We came out and we got a few stops there," North Cedar Coach Scott Jackson said. "The kids got after it. We've been taking some pride in our defense late in the season here, and it worked for us."

What also worked for the Knights was protecting the ball on the offensive end. The Knights (21-4) played a turnover-free first half that saw four ties and five lead changes, and finished the game with just two miscues overall.

"You feel like you always have to play a perfect game, especially to get to state," North Cedar junior Jayden Johnson said. "These guys are a really good team, and we just knew that if you turn the ball over, not good things."

In the teams' first meeting since a 74-52 Mount Vernon whitewash on Dec. 7, Johnson was spectacular. He displayed both his long-range shooting touch and smooth drives to the basket to record nine of his team's first 11 points. Johnson finished with 28 points to lead all scorers. With North Cedar trailing 36-29 in the third, Johnson started the rally with a three-point play, followed by a steal and coast-to-coast drive to cut the Mount Vernon lead to two. His two free throws with two minutes left in the third gave North Cedar a 38-36 lead, its first since the end of the opening period.

"He's a great player," Jackson said. "If we get him the basketball, good things happen."

More good things happened for the Knights to begin the fourth quarter. Clinging to a 41-38 lead, senior Grant Pruess came off the bench and came up with a crucial steal and bucket, and followed it up with a 3-pointer to push the Knights' lead to 46-38. Mount Vernon got no closer than five the rest of the game.

"I think everybody on the team knew that as soon as I got those points, we were going to win," Pruess said. "We got a four-peat back to Wells."

The state tournament begins Mar. 10 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Mount Vernon's Connor Herrmann was up to the challenge early, filling up the stat sheet in the first half to the tune of 15 points, five rebounds, and two assists. The second half was a different story for the standout sophomore, who was held scoreless for 12 1/2 minutes as North Cedar turned the 36-29 deficit into a 57-41 lead.

"In the beginning we were almost so scared that he was going to kill us from outside," Pruess said. "After that, we realized he wasn't shooting that well and he doesn't like shooting. We decided, let's give him a little bit of room and try to keep him from going anywhere."

Herrmann finished with 23 points for Mount Vernon, which ends at 18-6.

"We had prepared for every type of defense the last couple of days," first-year Mount Vernon Coach Wes Bruns said. "It comes down to making some shots. Tonight wasn't our night."

AT C.R. JEFFERSON

MOUNT VERNON (48): Nolan Teubel 3 0-1 7, Connor Herrmann 11 1-3 23, Andy DeCamp 1 0-0 3, Tommy Hook 2 2-2 8, Jake Pisarik 0 0-0 0, Adam Ketelsen 2 0-0 5, Robbie Peters 0 0-0 0, Luke Eldred 1 0-0 2, Brevin Lewis 0 0-0 0, Luke Maddock 0 0-0 0, Trevor Baty 0 0-0 0, Riley Hauser 0 0-0 0, Alex Reid 0 0-0 0, Johnny See 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 3-6 48.

NORTH CEDAR (63): Josh Kintzel 5 5-7 15, Jacob Hay 1 3-6 6, Seth Hamilton 2 2-2 7, Andrew Fields 0 0-0 0, Jayden Johnson 9 9-12 28, Dylan Deerberg 0 2-2 2, Grant Pruess 2 0-0 5, Bryan Kash 0 0-0 0, Derrick Gray 0 0-0 0, Chandler Moore 0 0-0 0, Zach Bendixen 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 21-29 63.

Halftime - Mount Vernon 27, North Cedar 26. 3-point goals – Mount Vernon 5 (Hook 2, Teubel, Ketelsen, DeCamp), North Cedar 4 (Johnson, Hay, Hamilton, Pruess). Rebounds – Mount Vernon 29 (Herrmann 10), North Cedar 21 (Hay 6). Total fouls – Mount Vernon 23, North Cedar 12. Fouled out – DeCamp. Turnovers - Mount Vernon 13, North Cedar 2.