SHELBYVILLE -- For the second time this week, Mt. Vernon's boys basketball team rallied from a big deficit for a hard-earned victory.
On Friday at Shelbyville in a game between two teams that came in unbeaten in the Hoosier Heritage Conference, the deficit was bigger and much later in the game.
On Tuesday at Anderson, Mt. Vernon came back after trailing by 11 points late in the first half to defeat the No. 13 Indians 56-52.
At Garrett Gymnasium in Shelbyville, the Marauders trailed by 19 points, 41-22, early in the third quarter and by 10, 57-47, with just under three minutes to play.
They finished the game with the final 17 points to improve to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the HHC with a 64-57 victory over the Golden Bears.
Shelbyville had won its first five games of the season. Friday's loss was their second straight after being defeated Tuesday by Greenwood. The Golden Bears are 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
"We have gritty guys," Mt. Vernon coach Joe Bradburn said. "I'm upset with them and ticked off at them right now because they didn't play for two and a half quarters. We abandoned things that we do. ... We had to figure out how to get in sync and it took us awhile.
"I thought Shelbyville outplayed us in the first half. They were more aggressive and wanted it more. They were focused, had a target on us and we didn't respond. Midway through the third we started playing more active and picking up more."
When Shelbyville's Caden Claxton hit a 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark of the third quarter, the Golden Bears stretched their lead to 41-22.
Mt. Vernon chopped the margin to 11 by the end of the quarter, 48-37, and finally got in under double figures on a Luke Ertel 3-pointer to start the fourth.
Shelbyville was able to get the lead back to 10, 57-47, on a pair of Claxton free throws with 2:55 remaining, but the Marauders dominated the rest of the game.
To take the lead, Mt. Vernon scored the next 11 points, nine came on three made 3-pointers. Ertel had bookend treys during the run, Max Vise hit a pair of free throws and Elijah Parra added a triple.
Ertel's second 3-pointer, and third in the quarter, gave Mt. Vernon a 58-57 lead with 1:06 to go.
Following a Shelbyville turnover, the Golden Bears had to foul. Not yet in the bonus, it wasn't until the 41-second mark that the Marauders got to the free-throw line.
Vise, the 6-7 sophomore who scored a career-high 21 points, hit a pair of free throws to give the Marauders a 60-57 lead.
After a Claxton missed trey, the Marauders were back at the charity stripe and hit 4 of 6 to close out the game, getting one each from Vise and Parra and two from Tanner Teschendorf.
The first half was all Shelbyville.
The Golden Bears hit their first four shots, three were from 3-point range. Two of the treys came from Brody Runnebohm, who had 10 first-quarter points.
Shelbyville hit 8 of 9 (88.9 percent) first-quarter shots, including all five of their 3-point attempts. They were nearly as accurate in the second period, connecting on 4 of 6 (66.7 percent) as well as a perfect 6 of 6 at the free-throw line.
Once the tables turned the Golden Bears were unable to regain their shooting eye, hitting just 2 of 11 (18.2 percent) in the final quarter and only 1 of 8 (12.5 percent) from 3-point range.
Mt. Vernon outscored Shelbyville 27-9 in the fourth quarter and 42-16 after trailing by 19 points.
"Our defense ignited our offense," Bradburn said. "We got down in stance, competed hard, put more pressure on them and that caused them to rush their shots. They weren't as comfortable shooting their shots down the stretch of the game.
"But we have to figure out how to be mature from the start of every game. We've had too many lulls in too many games where we have these pockets we go in, like we did (Friday). We just went longer than we have been doing. You have to give Shelbyville credit. They were skilled, attacking, and shot the ball well the first half."
Ertel and Vise were co-leading scorers for Mt. Vernon with 21 points apiece. Ertel had 11 in the fourth quarter and 18 in the second half. Vise had 14 second-half points and eight in the final period. Parra had 13 points and led the team at halftime with nine.
Claxton led the Bears with 21. Mar Nicholson finished with 16. Runnebohm did not score again after the first eight minutes and finished with 10 before fouling out.
It was Mt. Vernon's fifth straight win over Shelbyville, the previous four were all by 30 points or more.
At 3-0 in the HHC, the Marauders are one of only two teams without a conference loss. With a win Friday at Yorktown, Greenfield-Central is 2-0 in league play. The two teams meet Jan. 10 at Mt. Vernon, the next conference game for both teams.
"I appreciate that our guys responded (Friday) and gave us a chance to stay in control in the conference," Bradburn added.
Prior to their next conference game against Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon will play Batesville Dec. 27 at 10 a.m. in the Batesville Tournament. They will play later that day, at either 6 p.m. (if they lose to Batesville) or 7:45 p.m. (if they defeat Batesville) against either Roncalli or Columbus North.
The Marauders next home game is Jan. 7 against Westfield.
Mt. Vernon (6-1, 3-0): Aden Daugherty 1 0-0 2, Tanner Teschendorf 1 3-4 5, Max Vise 6 7-10 21, Elijah Parra 5 1-3 13, Luke Ertel 7 4-5 21, Ryker Baer 0 0-0 0, Charlie Cross 0 0-0 0, Will Jones 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 15-22 64.
Shelbyville (5-2, 1-1): Mar Nicholson 7 2-2 16, Damon Badgley 1 0-0 3, Cole Schene 1 0-0 2, Brody Runnebohm 3 1-2 10, Caden Claxton 6 6-6 21, Gavin Reed 1 2-2 5, Kenny Owens 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 11-12 57.
3-point goals: Mt. Vernon 7 (Ertel 3, Vise 2, Parra 2); Shelbyville 8 (Runnebohm 3, Claxton 3, Badgley, Reed).