Lady Mt’neers defeat Hollister as districts loom, look to McDonald Co.

The Mt. Vernon Lady Mt’neers split a pair of games last week against Hollister and Springfield Catholic as they prepare to finish conference play and the regular season.
Following a loss to Aurora, the Lady Mt’neers traveled to Hollister with the boys in part of a super night with the Tigers. Junior Cheyenne Bieber was fantastic scoring 25 points and hauling in seven rebounds, to go with 10 points from teammate Addie Hall as the Lady Mt’neers cruised to a convincing 63-29 thrashing of Hollister.
The following day, Mt. Vernon welcomed Springfield Catholic to Mt’neer country. Catholic struck first thanks to a bucket from Peyton Wiseman but then it was the Lady Mt’neers who exploded on the offensive end. A deep three from Bieber put the Lady Mt’neers in front, but a bucket from freshman Emmie Schubert and a three from junior Audrey Bittle expanded the lead to 10-2. Mt. Vernon kept the pressure on them and built a 15-11 lead after one quarter. The second quarter was not nearly as kind to the Lady Mt’neers as the Lady Irish took the lead back midway in the second quarter after a Hall free throw remained the lone point the Lady Mt’neers could muster. Mt. Vernon went into the half trailing 26-16. Mt. Vernon tried to make a rally in the third quarter behind a three from Hall and four free throws but Catholic held tight to the lead 35-27. Mt. Vernon’s last attempt at a comeback push fell short as Catholic was able to match every Lady Mt’neer bucket to win 49-37.
The loss moves Mt. Vernon to 9-13 for the season. They will wrap up Big 8 play this week starting with a showdown with Monett that will likely decide the No. 2 seed in districts before taking on McDonald County, Thursday night.