Mt. Vernon falls to Ozark Tigers in Blue and Gold tourney action

Mt’neers to play two games this week—at Nevada, before hosting Monett Friday night
 
The Mt. Vernon High School boys basketball team wrapped up their play in the Blue and Gold Tournament in Springfield on Monday, Dec. 29, with a 74-44 loss to Ozark.
The Tigers were able to jump out to an early 16-7 first quarter lead, but the Mt’neers battled back, outscoring Ozark 14-12 in the second quarter to cut the lead to 28-21 at the half. A 24-point third quarter put Ozark back in control though, as the Tigers held Mt. Vernon to 11 points to increase their lead to 52-32.  In the final quarter of play, Ozark scored another 20 points to put the game out of reach for the Mt’neers.
Garrison Nordyke led the Mt’neers with 11 points in the game.
“We knew that upsetting Parkview in the first round would potentially create tougher competition for us throughout the tournament, which is what we faced playing both Hartville and Ozark in the second and third rounds,” said Head Coach Ryan Worley. “The guys have embraced the idea that playing good teams early in our schedule will better prepare us for both our conference schedule and post season play. The coaches are most proud of how this group continues to compete in games by building an understanding of their individual roles overall, helping us to become a more complete team.  After some time off we will turn our focus to preparing for an always tough Big 8 Conference schedule with the hope of putting ourselves in a position to challenge for a conference championship.”  
Mt. Vernon is now 4-7 on the season and were scheduled to play at Nevada last night before hosting Monett on Friday night.

Girls basketball
The Lady Mt’neers did not play a game last week but were scheduled to play at Nevada on Monday night before hosting Monett tomorrow night.