In the semifinal match, the No. 4 ranked Mount Vernon Mustangs girls basketball team had a tough loss against the top-ranked Estherville-Lincoln Central Midgets, 45-37. The game was held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. The Midgets gained an advantage from the start; their shooting percentage was higher compared to the Mustangs who had one of the lowest shooting percentages this year. ELC eventually fell to Solon in the state championship 54-47. 

“Unfortunately, we missed too many close shots at the basket early in the game which allowed ELC to jump out to a lead,” Coach Nate Sanderson said. The Midgets led 28-12 at halftime, extending the advantage to as many as 20 in the third quarter. The Mustangs shot 29 percent on the court, 4 of 18 from long distance and got no offensive push until the final couple minutes of the game. 

“It was really hard getting it inside like our original game plan was,” Courtney Franck, sophomore point guard for the Mustangs. 

“Offensively, we really wanted to play through the low post by getting the ball inside to Chloe Meester and Brynn Rasmussen,” Coach Sanderson added  “When we started driving the ball more aggressively in the second half, good things happened.”

For the Mount Vernon Mustangs this was not a very good offensive game. “It would have been nice to convert more shots in the first half. We just missed some good looks that we normally make,” Coach Sanderson said. Their shot percentage was as low as 29 percent on the court.

The Mount Vernon Mustangs had a good season going 22-4 overall. Franck and Meester led the team with nine points each for the Mustangs; they will be returning for another year on the girls basketball team.