WESTFIELD — Another game, another 32 minutes.
“I feel like I’ve been doing it all year. It’s 32-minutes games so I feel like I can do it, but maybe college will be a little harder,” said Mt Vernon senior guard Luke Ertel with a smile as he reflected on another game where he didn’t leave the floor.
All season, the Indiana Mr. Basketball candidate and Purdue commit has been the driving force behind the Marauders’ success. For Ertel and Class 4A fourth-ranked Mt. Vernon, Tuesday night was no different.
After Mt. Vernon fell behind early, the Marauders ended up trailing Westfield in a tight matchup going into halftime. When the teams resumed from break, it was all Marauders in a 63-55 victory.
The senior guard dug into what changed and propelled the Marauders in the second half.
“We just kind of spread the floor out,” Ertel then added, “I feel like as the game goes on, every team kind of has a great defensive plan and then they kind of loosen up when they get tired.”
Ertel continued his work as a catalyst for the Marauders on both sides of the floor. He finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists: a near triple double. The steady-handed floor general does it all and has been a force for Mt Vernon the entire season.
Marauders’ head coach Joe Bradburn acknowledged the game-changing impact from his star guard tonight,
“He’s great about just kind of prodding and trying to find who he can count on in the first half or who he can open up in the first half,” Bradburn said. “(He) tries to get guys going in different ways. He just has a sense of urgency and just a way about feeling the game and when he needs to take over, he takes over.”
When Bradburn was asked how many minutes he thought Ertel had spent on the bench this season, he couldn’t help but crack a smile.
“How many games have we had now? Twenty four games? Maybe 24 minutes,” he said with a chuckle.
The impact of Ertel and adjustments from the Marauders allowed them to take over in the second half. They finished strong with a 63-55 victory over a tough Westfield squad led by a 29-point outing from senior guard and Abilene Christian commit Drew Haffner.
Mt Vernon, which reached the semistate last year, currently sits atop the Hoosier Heritage conference with a 6-0 record and is among the top 4A teams in the state with an overall record of 21-3 on the season. Ertel’s averages lead the team in points, rebounds, and assists per game. For the Marauders, everything seems to be coming together at the right time.
Ertel and Mt Vernon will be back in action Friday against a Yorktown team that currently holds an eight-game winning streak. The Marauders have a bye in the first round of Sectional 9, before they look to make a tournament run March 6 at Greenfield-Central in the sectional semifinal.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Luke Ertel leads Mt. Vernon to win over Westfield