By Ian Bootsmiller

Cam Butterbaugh leaning over, hands covering his face in despair after turning the ball over on a misguided behind the back pass.  That’s the scene that describes the junior varsity basketball game against the Maquoketa Cardinals Thursday night, February 11th, 2016.  The Mustangs came into the game with 10-7 record while the Cardinals entered the game with a defeated record of 0-18.  The last time these two teams met the Mustangs took care of the Cardinals, beating them by nearly 20 points.

The Mustangs strategy was clear, raise the intensity level and get ahead early.  “In the past couple of games we’ve started out flat in the first half, not bringing a whole lot of energy. So we wanted to focus on bringing the intensity early on,” said sophomore Garrett Welch.  Their plan backfired and history repeated itself.  They fell behind 19-12 at halftime after missing their first six shots and Maquoketa went on a 15-5 run in the first quarter.

Coach Hauser had many things to say during halftime, “He said that we were shooting too many threes and weren’t taking reasonable shots.  We talked about how to break the zone and that we should keep fighting.  We’ve come back from games like this before, why not do it again?,” said sophomore Cale Snedden.  The Mustangs tried to put their plan into action but by the end of the third quarter they were still down 36-23.

In the fourth quarter the Mustangs made a final push to come back.  With good offensive production from sophomores Nick Leopold and Cale Snedden they were able to cut down the lead, but in the end Mount Vernon couldn’t shake the will power of the Cardinals.  The Mustangs lost the game 54-45.  They dropped to 10-8 on the season while the Cardinals break their defeated record, raising it to 1-18.  “When we get down in the hole we tend to get flustered and panic,” said Snedden.  Although it was a tough loss, the Mustangs look forward to the next game where they can try to finish off the season on a high note.

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