Scoreless first quarter leads to Mustangs’ loss

A scoreless first quarter ultimately led to Mount Vernon’s demise Thursday night.

The Mustangs lost to Wolsey-Wessington 53-43 in a boys’ basketball game at the Corn Palace.

Although Mount Vernon grabbed the first possession of the game, it was unable to connect with the basket. Wolsey-Wessington kept it that way throughout the quarter, going on an 8-0 run and holding the Mustangs scoreless.

Mount Vernon’s first points of the game came three minutes into the second quarter, but the Warbirds held the Mustangs to 10 points and took advantage of offensive rebounds. Wolsey-Wessington led 18-10 at halftime.

Mount Vernon head coach Eric Denning said his team did not come prepared to play on Thursday night.

“(Wolsey-Wessington) came out and they just wanted the game more than we did,” Denning said. “We were flat, and they came out and basically punched us in the nose right away, and we never responded all night.”

Wolsey-Wessington’s Hayden Hooks opened the third quarter with a basket, but Mount Vernon answered right back with a banked 3-point shot from Cameron Deinert to bring the score to 20-14.

After that, the Mustangs got into foul trouble, and the Warbirds took full advantage of their time at the free-throw line. Wolsey-Wessington made 6 out of 7 free throws in the third quarter.

The Mustangs never led during the game, and the closest they came was four to bring the score to 33-29 during the fourth quarter.

At one point, the Warbirds led by 16 points.

Wolsey-Wessington head coach Gordon Hooks said he thought his team played a really good game.

“(Mount Vernon) is a really high-powered offensive team, so to hold them under 50 points is a really good accomplishment for us,” Hooks said.

The Warbirds held Mount Vernon to 33 percent shooting and forced the Mustangs to turn over the ball over 25 times compared to the Warbirds’ nine turnovers.

Denning said he felt like his team didn’t even show up for this game.

“We weren’t here all night,” Denning said. “I hope we learn that we have to show up to play. We have to want it as bad as the other team. Kudos to Wolsey-Wessington, because they had a fire, and we had no fire at all.”

The Mustangs were led in scoring by Jared Long, who had a game-high 13 points. Deinert and Jacob Sonne added 10 points each. The Mustangs shot 12-of-37 from the field and went 11-of-19 from the free-throw line. Mount Vernon won the rebounding battle 31-24. Dean Frey grabbed 10 rebounds for the game, while Deric Denning and Sonne each had six.

Wolsey-Wessington was led in scoring by Lorenzo Williams, who scored 10 points. Hayden Hooks added eight points and Jalen Boomsma and Alex Babcok each had seven points for the night.

The Warbirds shot 17-of-47 from the field for 36 percent and went 19-of-30 from the free-throw line for 63 percent. Bo Mutchelkanus led the Warbirds in rebounding with nine rebounds.

Wolsey-Wessington improves to 16-2 and is back in action on Friday, when it takes on Sunshine Bible Academy. Mount Vernon drops to 15-4 and plays Friday at Parkston.

WW 8 18 49 53

MV 0 10 25 43

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