MOUNT VERNON — It was a night to honor the senior at “The Hive,” Friday, as the Mount Vernon High School girls basketball team closed out the regular season by hosting the Olentangy Braves in an Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division matchup. Unfortunately, the Braves didn’t think so.
Olentangy stole a victory from the Yellow Jackets at the buzzer, beating Mount Vernon, 34-33. A last-second layup by Shannon Delaney gave the Braves (12-8, 7-3 OCC) the win, and broke the Jackets’ hearts.
“This one probably hurts us as bad or worse than any of the losses we’ve had all year,” said Mount Vernon coach Doug Savage. “It was Senior Night, and the girls were excited about that. They wanted to win their last game in ‘The Hive.’ Tonight meant a little more to them than any other night. They played their hearts out. I don’t see how they could have played any harder. Defensively, I thought we did a great job on them.”
The Jackets (9-11, 4-6 OCC) had just taken the lead seven seconds before when, following a timeout, Nikki DiGuilio was fouled driving the lane. DiGuilio missed the first shot, but connected on the second to give Mount Vernon a one-point lead.
“We had our chances from the middle of the fourth quarter on, really. The lead could have been than just one point,” said Savage. “After the timeout, we got the ball inbounds and got it into our point guard’s hands. We ran a quick driving play. She took it right in and got fouled.
“Our philosophy was to let them catch the ball in the backcourt and then stay in front of them, making them eat three or four seconds before they could get down into shooting range. That was our philosophy. ... They did eat a little bit of time, but she went quick on the baseline and we didn’t get any helpside defense to cut her off. She hit the layup. You have to give her credit. Most girls in that situation would panic, but she didn’t. She had a good presence to know how much time she had.”
In the first quarter, the Jackets and Braves were locked in tight battle with neither being able to separate itself from the other. A layin by Caroline Caldwell tied the game at 8 with under 20 seconds left, by Christine Delaney scored a layup with on second left to put the Braves up, 10-8, after one.
Mount Vernon senior Rachel Buirley scored off an assist from Jess Gall to open the second quarter, tying the game. The teams then proceeded to trade free throws over the next three minutes. Olentangy finally pushed the lead to four with 34 seconds left, 17-13, by a jumper by senior Caroline Denzer cut the Mount Vernon deficit back to two at the half.
After playing each other nearly even in the first half, everyone in attendance knew something had to give in the second half. Olentangy struck first, scoring a putback from Daniela Echeverria two minutes in, but Mount Vernon rattled off six straight points to go up, 21-19. The Braves closed the quarter on an 8-1 run, however, to go up by five, 27-22. Back-to-back steals by Christina Tirpak were converted into layups to help fuel the run.
Another Tirpak steal and layup started the fourth quarter, making the deficit seven points. The Jackets were undaunted, however, and pulled themselves back into the game. Four free throws by DiGuilio and jumpers by Denzer and Gall put Mount Vernon on a 8-0 spurt. Gall’s bucket with 1:49 left to play gave Mount Vernon the lead, 30-29. The teams then traded points over the final minute and a half. A free throw by Christine Delaney with 48 seconds left tied the game at 32 to set up the wild finish.
“We had our chances,” said Savage, whose team went 6-3 in the its last nine games. “It has been a tough year. There has been a lot of adversity. It started with my surgery and then it went from player to player to player. It has been a tough year.”
Buirley, who was honored along with Denzer, Emily Cassell, Kelsey Payne and Stacia Davis prior to the game, led Mount Vernon with nine points, eight rebounds and four steals. DiGuilio had nine points and two assists; Gall had six points, four rebounds and two assists; Denzer had six points and two steals; and Cassell pulled down five boards.
“This was a great group of kids to work with,” said Savage. “I wouldn’t trade them for anyone. There are better basketball players out there. We’ve seen them this year, but I couldn’t be any more prouder of my kids. Day in and day out, they’ve been a fun group to work with. They play hard all the time.”
Earlier in the evening, Olentangy knocked off the junior varsity Jackets for the second time this season. The Braves won, 41-34. Karina Shackle led Mount Vernon (14-6) with 11 points. Sadie Malone scored eight points, and Sam Arcilla finished with six points.
The Jackets will now have a week off to prepare for the Division I postseason tournament. Ironically, Mount Vernon will open play against Olentangy. The game will be played on Saturday, Feb. 9, at Pickerington North High School. The start time has been changed to 5:15 p.m.
Savage believes his team can learn a lesson from Friday’s game and apply it in the tournament, saying, “You could see pretty easily that they packed everything in on us. They didn’t want to come out of the lane. They stayed around Buirley and Cassell most of the time. They definitely are going to try and take away our inside game first. We did some nice things. ... We will probably see pretty much the same philosophy the next time.”