Bieber’s double-double leads Mt. Vernon to victory

Big 8 play opened Tuesday night in Cassville as the Lady Mt’neers looked to knock off the Lady Wildcats. The Lady Cats were going to have to do it without a pair of starters in junior guard Kyler Hayward and Aubrey Stoufer.
Cassville opened up the scoring with a mid-range jumper by Madison Holterman. However, Mt. Vernon junior Cheyenne Bieber was ready to roll and went on a 5-0 run herself to give the Lady Mt’neers the lead. The Lady Mt’neer hero from the Joplin game Addie Hall got a bucket to fall and Mt. Vernon was in business with a 7-2 lead. Cassville got a few buckets, but it was Bieber that dominated the opening quarter as the Lady Mt’neers held a 13-8 lead after one quarter.
Cassville came out on a tear in the second quarter hitting three three-balls in the quarter. The first one came early in the quarter as freshman Taylor Kennedy got her first one to fall. After a pair of free throws fell for the Lady Cats, we had a tied ball game at 13 all. Addie Hall got things going for Mt. Vernon with an and-one to put the Lady Mt’neers back on top 15-13. The Lady Cats responded much like they did all quarter long with another go ahead three by Kyla Bowling. Two more Bieber free throws gave Mt. Vernon their final lead of the half at 17-16. A 5-0 Cassville run led by another Kennedy three gave Cassville a 21-17 lead at the break.
The pace quickened in the third quarter starting as the Lady Mt’neers shifted from a halfcourt 3-2 zone to a full-court diamond press that forced Cassville to take care of the ball without their starting point guard, and Mt. Vernon had some success with it. The Lady Cats managed to get a couple buckets early on that extended the lead to 25-19 but then Mt. Vernon saw the fruit of their press as they jumped on a 12-0 run led by six straight points from junior Isabel Cloud on the fast break. Mt. Vernon ended the quarter on a 14-4 run and led 32-29 at the third buzzer.
For the fourth straight quarter, Cassville led it off with a bucket to cut the lead back down to one point. Bieber capitalized on a pair of easy buckets to push the lead out to 36-31 but then a Bieber steal and full court left handed pass pushed the lead back to 40-31. Cassville wasn’t done yet as a pair of threes powered a 10-2 Cats run to a 45-41 deficit with just over a minute left to play. Bieber and the Lady Mt’neers held on late for a 49-41 victory.
“We showed some toughness,” Mt. Vernon coach Dusty Killingsworth said following the game. “We talked about it before the game, we talked about it at halftime and we talked about it during the game. It was their first home game so we knew they were going to be ready to play, so we had toughness on our board four times.”
Bieber was excited about getting to play her kind of game late, not being in foul trouble and felt like that was key in their win.
“I felt like I was able to play so much better because I felt like I could play free and didn’t get three fouls in the first quarter like some of the other games,” Bieber said. “I was able to stay aggressive and play my game and I think that helped down the stretch.”
Bieber led the game in scoring with 20 points, 11 rebounds and six steals. Addie Hall chipped in 12 points while Isabel Cloud added six. Teagyn Huver added four points. Audrey Bittle had three points and Aubree Rogerson two.
Mt. Vernon improves to 3-2 for the season and will have a pair of match-ups this week starting in Forsyth on Monday, before heading to East Newton on Thursday.