Mt. Vernon’s title run dominates Hancock County boys basketball honors
Mt. Vernon put three stars and its coach on the county’s spotlight list after a 28-3 title run, and Luke Ertel’s Mr. Basketball win capped it.
Mt. Vernon did not just win Hancock County basketball this winter. It took over the county’s awards season, and the all-county team makes the point plain: this was a title run built on depth, not just one headline name.
The Marauders finished 28-3, went 7-0 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference and won the 2026 IHSAA Class 4A state championship by edging Crown Point 52-50 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. That title was the first boys basketball state championship in Mt. Vernon history and the first boys basketball state title ever claimed by a Hancock County program in the 116-year history of the IHSAA tournament. When a season carries that kind of weight, the honors tend to spread, and Mt. Vernon filled the county ballot.
Joe Bradburn was named Hancock County Coach of the Year, a fitting nod for a team that looked more like a complete program than a one-man show. Luke Ertel was the county’s biggest individual name, and the postseason only made his case stronger. He was named the 86th Indiana Mr. Basketball on April 9, becoming the first Mt. Vernon player to win the award and the 14th Purdue signee to do it. His year was monster-level stuff: 24.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game, along with 98 made threes, 19 double-doubles and 148 free throws.
The deeper cut is what came behind him. Will Davison, a 6-5 sophomore from New Palestine, showed why his name keeps climbing statewide. He averaged 18.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals while burying 59 threes, earning AP Honorable Mention All-State, IBCA Underclass Large School All-State and Indiana Futures Game selection. That is not just promising size and length. That is a sophomore already producing like a focal point.
Max Vise gave Mt. Vernon another layer, with Division I interest already attached to his name and offers from Miami-Ohio, Kent State and Ball State. Clay Mullins of Greenfield-Central also landed among the county’s top names after averaging 15.1 points and hitting 57 threes, but the larger story still belonged to the Marauders. When one team produces the state’s Mr. Basketball, a dominant sophomore and a coach of the year, the county honor roll stops looking like a roundup and starts looking like a receipt.
That is the real takeaway from Hancock County’s awards: Mt. Vernon’s championship was not a hot streak or a lucky bracket. It was the most complete single-season concentration of talent the county has seen in years, and the titles and honors now attached to it prove it.
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