MOUNT VERNON — Sometimes, numbers can be deceiving.
The Mount Vernon girls basketball team had six healthy players going into Friday’s Ohio Capital Conference home game against the Olentangy Braves. Olentangy had 13.
Outsized and outmanned, Mount Vernon kept the game close, trailing by just three midway through the third period. The Braves needed a late run to pull away from the tired Yellow Jackets, 61-38.
“We beat them up, physically,” said Mount Vernon head coach Joe Rucker. “We can’t go toe-to-toe with them, skill-wise. We’ll have to win with toughness. I’ve never been so proud of a group of girls. ... A lot of people won’t understand that. They’ll look at the box score and see we lost by 20-plus. But, we’re playing without Madi (Montgomery) and without Kaitlin (Dallas). I’m really proud.”
Senior Maggie Hale, at 5-foot-9, is the tallest active player listed on the Mount Vernon roster. Olentangy had nine players listed taller. That didn’t stop the Jackets from outrebounding the Braves for most of the game, or from winning the battle for nearly two-thirds of all loose balls.
For the rest of the story
The rest of this article is available to Mount Vernon News subscribers. To continue reading, please log in or purchase a subscription. Click here for the February 9, 2013 e-edition. The article will only be available for thirty (30) days.
Contact Bill Davis
EmailCopyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
