By Catherine Yeoman

“Erhhhhh” was the sound of the fourth quarter buzzer, marking the end of the Mount Vernon girls Junior Varsity basketball team’s undefeated season.

For the last game of the season, Feb. 8, the Mustangs faced their biggest rival, the Solon Lady Spartans. Mount Vernon had a perfect season coming into the game, and pressure was on to finish strong. The final score of the game was 63-38 Mount Vernon. The Mustangs accomplished their goal of having an undefeated season with a record of 21-0 and adding on to their three year record of 62-1.

The JV girls basketball team is coached by Lance Pedersen who is also the head football coach for Mount Vernon. Coach Pedersen motivates all players by promoting positive thinking and mindset. He said “Motivation is not different for boys and girls, they can be motivated in the same ways.” Pederson has five main objectives he emphasizes to the girls before every game: rebounding, defense, hustle, bunnies (easy baskets), and to value the basketball.

Pedersen attributes the success of the team to working hard, being aggressive, team chemistry, and the players being coachable. “Being very aggressive at this level, you can do a lot of good things, and when I tell my players to do something they try it and make corrections,” Coach Pedersen said.

Most of the JV players consist of juniors and sophomores who have been playing together for many years through school and club teams. The main scores for the team are juniors Bailey Hauser and Noelle Ossenkop, who, with classmates Katheryn Opperman, Kyli Orr, McKenzie Hartl, have created a strong friendship and solid team. “We have been playing together for so many years which has made us capable to grow with each other and become such great friends,” said Opperman.

The JV team’s success has helped the whole program be successful. All three teams practice together, pushing each other to get better at every level. Pedersen said, “The success has been throughout the whole high school program. Kids caring about kids and players working hard, coaches working with all players. It’s not just about one team but rather about the whole program.”