Those giant-killer from Mount Vernon completed a remarkable ride through the postseason by claiming the ultimate prize.

The unranked Mustangs rallied from eight points down late in the third quarter to beat No. 2 Manson-Northwest Webster 59-56 Friday night to win the Class 2A state championship.

Mount Vernon did it with big games from Taylor Dicus, Liz Skotowski and Micah Wieditz and a huge contribution down the stretch from reserve Brianna Strong.

It's the first girls basketball title for Mount Vernon, but it continued a string of success at the state level for the school. The Mustangs won the Class 3A girls track championship last spring and captured the 2A volleyball title last fall.

To get the basketball championship, Mount Vernon won four straight games against Top 15 opponents, beating teams ranked No. 1, No. 11 and No. 9 before topping the second-ranked Cougars.

Dicus scored 22 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, handed out four assists and made two steals to lead the Mustangs, who finish 25-3. Skotowski scored 16 points and Wieditz added 15.

Strong sliced in from the left side for a layup to erase Manson-Northwest Webster's final lead, tying the score at 54 with 1:52 remaining. She then made three steals down the stretch to thwart the Cougars and the Mustangs scored after the first two.

Dicus scored on a follow shot to give Mount Vernon a 56-54 lead and Wieditz followed with two free throws to make it 58-54 with 40.1 seconds remaining. That gave the Mustangs enough of a cushion to hang on and grab yet another championship trophy.

Mika Rodewald, playing her best game of the tournament, led Manson-Northwest Webster with 17 points and six rebounds. Morgan Markert scored 15 points and Lauren Christianson 10.

Mount Vernon trailed 40-32 after Rodewald sank two free throws with 1:42 left in the third quarter. The Mustangs then went on a 15-4 run that included two 3-pointers each from Skotowski and Wieditz to take a 47-44 lead with 5:52 left.

The two teams then went back and forth the rest of the way. Manson-Northwest Webster had a chance at the end to tie it with a 3-pointer, but lost the ball on a turnover.

The Cougars had a 23-game winning streak broken and finish 24-2.

Mar 6, 2010, 12:12 AM