By JOHN ROARK
john.roark@register-news.com
HERRIN — While the Massac County Patriots hit the ground running, the Mt. Vernon Township High School boys basketball team seemed to be just hitting the floor.
And the net result wasn’t pretty for the Rams in the season opener for both teams Monday night at the Pyramid Plus Tournament.
Rolling to a 22-9 lead after a quarter, Joe Hosman’s Patriots — last year’s runnerup in Class 2A — ran Scott Gamber’s Vernois every which way but loose in a 57-38 demolition.
Using pressure and an up-tempo style whenever it could, Massac forced MVTHS into hurrying poor shot selection, and the end result was a plethora of runout baskets and high-percentage baskets.
“I thought we played a great first half, both defensively and offensively,” Hosman said. “We try to run and get out and go.”
And get out and go the Pats went. Tied at 2-2, Massac made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts early while padding its 13-point lead, while MVTHS was shooting 3 of 14.
Massac guard Corey Ayala and post man James Lang both scored 16 points, and each had a half-dozen points in the first quarter as the Patriots seized control early.
Things didn’t get any better for the Rams in the second frame, who are returning just one starter.
By haftime, Mt. Vernon was shooting 4 of 26, putting up poor attempt after poor attempt, and trailing 30-12. And it was that count that caught both coaches’ eyes.
“What (Massac) had at halftime, we needed to keep them after three quarters,” Gamber said. “We need to keep the games ugly and in the low 40s. If we allow teams to score like that, we’re gonna struggle.”
Hosman was pleased with his team’s defense, though the Rams were able to put together a 15-point third period. Logan Murphy’s 3-point shot at the third stop cut the Massac lead to 43-27.
“The third quarter ... is usually our quarter the past couple years,” Hosman said. “(Gamber) made some adjustments and they were able to score.”
Massac did miss easy layups, but it was able to keep a comfortable lead in the second half by dictating the tempo. MVTHS had a chance to chip into the lead at the free-throw line, but made just 7 of 22 foul shots.
Massac made enough mistakes, and the Rams rebounded well enough down the stretch — Mt. Vernon eventually owned a 41-33 edge in that department — to make the second half a near-wash.
Still, Gamber was concerned about his team’s lack of discipline.
“We were wild, we turned it over and shot way too quick,” Gamber said. “We’d call sets and never get to a set and then try to penetrate when there was nothing there.
“We missed a lot of shots; (Massac) made us play faster than the way we needed to play and because of that, I think everything was rushed.
“We just never got in the flow,” Gamber added.
Kellin Edwards and Ian Randolph both had nine points to lead the Vernois.
MVTHS, in the tournament for the first time, will need to step up its game if the Rams have designs on earning wins in the week-long event.
“(Massac is) quick and they’re physical,” Gamber said. They play like our guys need to play. You never like to lose — and you especially never like to lose the way we did (tonight) which was an embarassment.
“But if you’re going to, it’s probably good it’s the first game of the year and hopefullly, that will wake them up a little bit. We’re not very good (right now) — if we want to be good, we’ve got to play harder defensively, we’ve got to play a lot smarter, take care of the ball.
“Things in the past we did a good job at, we did very poorly (tonight),” Gamber added.
MVTHS meets host Herrin tonight at 7 p.m.
In other games Monday night, Marion slipped past Salem 46-45 and Herrin knocked off Memphis River City
Massac County 57, Mt. Vernon 38
MVTHS 9 3 15 11—38
Massac 22 8 13 14—57
MTVHS (0-1)
Brooks 0 0-0 0, Edwards 3 2-6 9, Gordon 1 0-0 2, Tucker 1 2-8 4, Mitchell 0 1-2 1, Fowler 0 0-0 0, Murphy 2 0-0 6, Rush 3 0-0 6, Randolph 4 1-2 9, TyTrimble 0 1-2 1, Cummins 0 0-2 0. Totals 14 7-22 38
MASSAC COUNTY (1-0)
Johnson 3 0-2 7, Ayala 7 2-3 16, Amos 3 0-0 6, Sommer 1 1-2 3, Lang 7 2-2 16, Glass 2 0-0 5, Henry 0 0-1 0, Thigpen 0 3-4 3, Lee 0 0-0 0, Farmer 0 1-4 1, McManus 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 9-18 57
3-point goals — Mt. Vernon 3 (Murphy 2, Edwards). Massac 2 (Glass, Johnson). Team fouls — Mt. Vernon 16, Massac 17.
