Top-ranked Solon girls basketball falls to Mount Vernon in top-10 matchup
Temperatures were in the negatives in Iowa City, but Solon’s big rivalry girls basketball game against Mount Vernon heated things up on Tuesday.
In a battle between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in Class 3A, the Spartans had a chance to solidify their No. 1 ranking, but they came up short against the Mustangs (12-1), losing 44-37.
The loss snapped Solon’s (11-2) five-game unbeaten streak.
“It’s a hard loss,” Solon’s Callie Levin said. “We obviously didn't make many shots, our threes weren't going down, we played really hard defense. We held them to like [44] points, that's really impressive for us...we're going to get better, we're going to work on our confidence and next time [and] we're going to be more ready."
The Spartans jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first half thanks to their pesky defense.
The lead was lost in the third quarter as Solon struggled to put points on the board, and the Mustangs capitalized on the other end. Despite a hard-fought effort, the Spartans couldn’t flip the script in the final eight minutes.
Levin led all scorers with 23 points while Hailey Miller finished with 8 points.
The final two quarters weren’t too kind to Solon
It’s hard to win basketball games when you can’t score. And for Solon, they struggled to get anything going offensively in the third quarter after being up 22-14 at halftime.
A 3-pointer was the only bucket hit by Solon, as the Mustangs went on a 16-3 run.
Defensively, the Spartans couldn’t stop the Mustangs from attacking the rim. Solon head coach Jamie Smith believed lack of ball movement, coupled with Mount Vernon's size, played a role in the team's struggles.
“We didn’t move the ball. The ball kind of stuck,” Smith said. “Their height kinda bothered us a little bit…you have to move the ball against stuff like that.”
Levin, who drained the one shot for the Spartans in the third quarter, shared the same sentiment.
"We got to move the ball more," Levin said. "We just got to be more aggressive, taking the ball to the hoop, kicking it out, looking for our open teammates in the lanes and then looking for the kick outs."
The Spartans made a couple of key buckets in the fourth quarter to keep the game close.
Early in the quarter, Levin faked a pass and then nailed a 3-pointer. On the next Solon possession, Levin passed the ball to Miller, who hit her own 3-pointer in the corner to cut Mount Vernon's lead to three points.
But the Mustangs matched Solon's energy and made their own buckets to seal the game.
The Spartans entered Tuesday’s matchup holding opponents to 29.2 points per game over the past five games. They held the Mustangs to a season-low 44 points but they couldn't get the job done.
"I think we had a ton of confidence, coming in the third quarter. Maybe too much," Levin said. "They just came at us so we just got to be prepared for that. We can't have any slumps in any quarters. We got to finish the game [and] we got to finish every possession."
The Spartans are 1-1 when they score under 40 points. They will look to rebound when they face Independence on Friday.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Solon girls basketball comes up short against Mount Vernon
