Basketball: Mount Vernon Holds Off Rogers High Boys

ROGERS -- Maybe the eighth time is the charm for Mount Vernon, Mo., at the ninth annual Arvest Hoopfest.

Mount Vernon held Rogers High scoreless over the final 1 minute, 52 seconds and hit 7-of-10 free throws the final minute for a 62-53 win in the semifinals at War Eagle Arena on Friday night.

How They Scored

Mount Vernon, Mo. 62, Rogers High 53

Mount Vernon^16^14^13^19^—^62

Rogers^13^16^9^15^—^53

Mount Vernon (3-0): Myers 25, Call 18, Adams 14, Redfearn 2, Cordray 2, Williams 1.

Rogers (4-4): Allen 18, Freeland 11, Black 8, Salvador 5, Kressen 4, Crawford 3, McCullough 2, Benninghoff 2.

Mount Vernon (3-0) is making its eighth trip to the Arvest Hoopfest and this is the first time it has advanced to the finals. Rogers (4-4) will play in the third-place game at 4 p.m.

"This was a good win for our program," said Mount Vernon coach Mike Ray, who is in his first year as head coach after being a long time assistant at the school. "We are going to enjoy it for a little while, but we know we will have a tough game in the finals no matter which team we play."

Chandler Myers led three Mount Vernon players in double figures with 25 points. Luke Call added 18 points for Mount Vernon while Braden Adams finished with 13 points.

"We showed some mental and physical toughness," Ray said.. "Those three guys, Myers, Call and Adams, are seniors and they have played a lot of basketball. They play like seniors and they put the team on their shoulders. They are pretty good."

Junior Will Allen led Rogers with 18 points while Milacio Freeland added 11 points. Rogers twice trailed by six points in the fourth quarter but it cut Mountain Vernon's lead to 55-53 when George Black hit two free throws with just under two minutes left in the game.

But Rogers would miss its last four shots from the field and it turned the ball over once as Mount Vernon pulled away.

"We were right there really, really close and we had a couple of opportunities," said Rogers coach Wayne Herren. "I liked the way we competed. Very pleased with Will Allen. Will is a guy that played one game of varsity last year and he is giving us a post game. That gives me some hope. It will come."

Mount Vernon made 19 of 24 free throws in the game, including 11-of-14 in the final quarter. Rogers was 7-of-13 from the line.

"We work on free-throw shooting everyday in practice and we have good shooters," Ray said. "This is what they do and we are happy for them."

Sports on 12/13/2014

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