MOUNT VERNON — The best news of the night came after the Mount Vernon boys basketball team defeated Big Walnut, 47-38, on Friday.
Three minutes after the players left the court, they returned to celebrate. They had just learned that they clinched a share of the Ohio Capital Conference championship.
“I’m really happy for our kids,” said Mount Vernon head coach Kurt Kaufman. “It’s a goal we have every year for our program. We have five wonderful seniors who are really driven, and they brought the underclassmen along the way. It’s a measure of a team that can win over the long haul.”
Olentangy Orange’s loss to Hilliard Bradley on Friday put the Yellow Jackets one game ahead with a game to go.
One by one, led by the five seniors, the players ascended a ladder to cut down the net for the first time in two seasons.
“This is amazing,” said Brad Fenton, who led all scorers on Friday with 19 points. “This has been our goal ever since we first came to high school. We came out here to win a championship and we got one.”
image gallery
Cut down the net; Jackets win OCC
Mount Vernon’s Riley Swanson (15), Seth Badger (20) and Brad Fenton (24) surround Big Walnut’s Tyler Beam during the fourth quarter of Friday’s game. The Yellow Jackets won, 47-38. (Photo by Bill Davis)
Buy Prints
Cut down the net; Jackets win OCC
Members of the Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets boys basketball team celebrate after defeating Big Walnut, 47-38, to clinch at least a share of the Ohio Capital Conference championship. (Photo by Bill Davis)
Buy Prints
Cut down the net; Jackets win OCC
Mount Vernon’s Brad Fenton stands with his piece of the net after his team clinched a share of the Ohio Capital Conference championship in a 47-38 victory over Big Walnut on Friday. (Photo by Bill Davis)
