With Taylor Franck’s return, Mount Vernon is whole again, and dangerous

Mount Vernon girls basketball is back to full strength.

“Praise be to that,” Coach Jacob Misener said.

Taylor Franck has returned to the Mustangs after a seven-game absence (leg injury). She hasn’t exactly limped back.

The senior guard, bound for the University of Northern Iowa, was (in Misener’s words) “absolutely unconscious” Tuesday night. She hit all nine of her shots (including 6-of-6 from 3-point range) in the Mustangs’ 70-33 romp over South Tama.

“She’d been busting at the seams to get back,” Misener said. “She was revved up, ready to play.”

Franck came off the bench and scored 11 points in her first game back, a 43-28 victory at Clinton on Saturday. She returned to the starting lineup Tuesday and tallied 26.

The reigning Class 3A state champion, Mount Vernon (9-2) has won seven consecutive games and is ranked No. 3 in 3A.

Sophomores Savanna Wright and Quinn Pershing average 15.6 and 11.6 points per game, respectively, to complement Franck’s 15.0.

Senior Courtney Franck (Taylor’s twin) is scoring at a modest 2.4-point pace, but adds so much more — 8.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 4.2 steals.

“I love this team going forward,” said Misener, who was elevated from assistant to head coach in the offseason. “We’re going to keep getting tested.

“It makes the dog days of January much more enjoyable.”

Highland wins this race

The first area team to double-digit wins? That’s Highland.

The Huskies (11-1) have won 11 consecutive games after opening the season with a loss to Keota. At 9-0 in the Southeast Iowa Superconference North Division, they hold a two-game lead over second-place Louisa-Muscatine.

Sophomore Kamryn Fink, daughter of head coach Jody Fink, is averaging 15.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 5.9 steals per game.

Juniors Katelyn Thomann and Hailey Brun add 9.2 and 9.0 points per game, respectively.

First place on the line in River Valley North

If Maquoketa is going to get a serious test in its River Valley Conference North Division slate this season, it’s probably going to come Friday at Cascade.

The Class 3A top-ranked Cardinals (7-2 overall, 4-0 division) have won 24 consecutive games against their divisional rivals. That includes a far-easier-than-expected 62-27 stroll Tuesday at Bellevue.

Maquoketa’s two losses have come against 5A competition. More than 87 percent of their scoring has come from their seniors, led by Cora Widel (16.2 ppg) and Aubrey Kroymann (11.6).

Cascade (8-2, 4-0) has won eight in a row and gets 14.1 points and 6.9 rebounds a game from senior Addison Frake.

Clippers climb to the top in 4A

In the wake of its 64-28 win at Center Point-Urbana on Tuesday, Clear Creek Amana climbed to the top of the rankings in Class 4A.

The Clippers (8-0 overall, 2-0 Wamac West) had been No. 4 in the previous list.

CCA leads 4A in offensive average, at 67.5 points per game. Arizona State signee Averie Lower is scoring at a 27.5-point rate (fifth-highest in the state), hitting 60 percent from the floor, 50 percent from distance.

Lena Evans adds 15.9 ppg. Like Lower, she was a key ingredient in CCA’s 4A state-championship team of 2024.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com