Playing at The Rock on Tuesday evening required both Westfield and Mount Vernon to think outside the line – the 3-point line.
Both the Shamrocks and the Marauders reached double-digits in terms of 3-pointers. Westfield was also staying close with Mount Vernon until a long run in the second half helped the Marauders leave The Rock with a 65-59 victory.
Mount Vernon made 15 3s in the game, with the ‘Rocks hitting 11 triples. That includes two 3s from senior Josh Van Dyke in the second quarter, and a big one late in the third that gave Westfield a 40-39 lead. This came after the Shamrocks trailed 30-23 at halftime.
But the Marauders blasted back, making consecutive 3-pointers after Van Dyke’s basket. Mount Vernon then scored at the third-period buzzer to go up 47-40. That 8-0 run became 14-0, as MV hit another pair of 3s early in the fourth to go ahead 53-40.
“No surprises that they can shoot the 3,” said ‘Rocks coach Shane Sumpter. “They shoot more than 20 a game. I think they were 15-of-26 from 3-point range and 2-for-15 inside the paint. We didn’t really do a good job of running them off the line like we wanted to do.”
Westfield continued to fight, with Camden Simons getting a jumper with five minutes left. Then Van Dyke nailed his fourth triple of the game to get the ‘Rocks within 53-45.
The Marauders led 59-47 with 2:49 to go before Westfield made one more run. Zach Banks hit a 3 while being fouled with two minutes left, then made the free throw to complete the rare four-point play. Chris Chin added a layin to cut Mount Vernon’s lead to 59-53, but that would be as close as the Shamrocks would get.
“Every time that we tried to make a run, they came right back with a run,” said Sumpter.
Van Dyke finished the game with 18 points, while Banks scored 13. Caleb Welch added 11 points, including three 3-pointers.
Westfield finished its regular season at 10-12. The Shamrocks will play Carmel next Tuesday (Feb. 27) in the first round of the Noblesville sectional.
Mount Vernon 65, Westfield 59
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Zach Banks 5 1-1 13 3
Caleb Welch 4 0-0 11 2
Josh Van Dyke 5 4-4 18 3
Sam Eaton 1 0-0 2 0
Jack Reinoehl 0 0-0 0 0
Camden Simons 2 0-0 4 1
Garrett Pollard 1 0-0 3 0
Chris Chin 3 1-2 8 2
Eli Patchett 0 0-0 0 1
Totals 21 6-7 59 12
Score by Quarters
Mount Vernon 16 14 17 18 – 65
Westfield 9 14 17 19 – 59
Westfield 3-pointers (11) Van Dyke 4, Welch 3, Banks 2, Chin 1, Pollard 1.
Westfield’s Josh Van Dyke hit four 3-pointers for the Shamrocks during its Tuesday game with Mount Vernon. (Richie Hall)