FRANKFORT – Lucky.
That is how North Montgomery girls basketball coach Ryan Nuppnau felt after his team’s thrilling 33-31 win over Sagamore Conference foe Frankfort Tuesday evening at historic Case Arena.
“We got lucky,” Nuppnau said. “They wanted it more than us. They outworked us at the defensive end. They outworked us rebounding wise and that kept them in the game. We made some key plays at the end of the game to help seal the deal.”
The Chargers survived a 13-minute field goal drought, a feisty Hot Dog defense, the last 23 seconds without star Piper Ramey after she fouled out with a one-point lead, giving up 18 offensive rebounds and committing 24 turnovers to eek out the victory.
“They’re a very dangerous team with how hard they play and I told their coach I was very impressed. We have to learn we have to match that physicality. I told our girls every time they touch the ball they have to be ready to catch and shoot. It’s a win and hopefully this will propel us going into the Sugar Creek Classic.”
Freshman Caelyn Carpenter’s putback with 1:34 left in the game made it 30-29 Chargers. Vannessa Guardado answered with a basket 14 seconds later for the home team’s final lead 31-30.
Ramey and teammates worked the ball into a foul and she hit both free throws for a 32-31 North advantage with 59 seconds to go.
The North defense forced two turnovers in the last minute and junior Krestyn Bradford ended with 1-of-2 from the line with eight seconds remaining.
North (3-2, 1-0 Sagamore Conference) started fast with a 7-0 advantage after three minutes, stretching it to 14-6 at the end of the first quarter. Ramey’s basket off a nice feed from Blair Nichols extended the lead to 18-8 with 4:56 left in the half.
The visitors would not get another field goal until freshman Caelyn Carpenter opened the third frame more than 13 minutes later with a three and regained the lead 24-23. The contest went back and forth the rest of the way.
Nuppnau’s team changed the offensive spacing and strategy some as the Frankfort defense collapsed on Raney at the high post. That also helped in the rebounding. Frankfort won the board battle 40-39 with 18 of those offensive.
“It helped putting Piper down on the baseline, which kind of sucked their girls down on her and allowed our girls on the perimeter and on top of the key to get some offensive rebounds with the focus on Piper in the short corner.”
Ramey finished with game highs of 19 points and 18 rebounds. She hit five of her nine shots and was 9-of-12 from the free throw line. Nichols added six points and Carpenter four.
Frankfort (0-5, 0-1), playing without leading scorer Ella McAtee, was led by Guadardo’s 17. Senior leader Saira Flores had 12 rebounds, but was held to four points on 2-of-14 shooting.
North managed 8-of-31 from the field and 15-27 from the line. Frankfort shot 13-56 outside and 4-5 free throws.
The win was the third straight for North, all on the road. That last happened in November 2021 against the same three teams: Attica, Frontier and Frankfort. It is the fifth winning streak of at least three games during Nuppnau’s tenure.
The Chargers now prepare for the Sugar Creek Classic Thursday and Friday. The semi-final game Thursday is game two against Crawfordsville and a quick turnaround.
“Last week we went Tuesday-Thursday-Friday also. It’s a little more high stake with county opponents and the Classic, but we’re ready to go.”
NORTH MONTGOMERY 33, FRANKFORT 31
Score by Quarter
NM 14 4 3 12 - 33
FFT 6 6 11 8 - 31
North Montgomery (3-2, 1-0 SAC): FG-FGA FT-FTA PTS: McManomy 0-2 0-0 0 Holt 0-0 0-0 0 Ramey 5-9 9-12 19 Norman 0-1 3-4 3 Crum 0-0 0-0 0 Bl. Nichols 2-8 0-2 6 Graham 0-0 0-2 0 Carpenter 1-3 2-5 4 Bradford 0-8 1-2 1. Totals 8-31 15-27 33.
Frankfort (0-5, 0-1 SAC): FG-FGA FT-FTA PTS: Tovar-Guijosa 0-3 0-0 0 Vasquez-Rivera 1-7 2-3 4 Santos-Valdez 0-9 0-0 0 Vasquez-Sanchez 0-0 0-0 0 Flores 2-14 0-0 4 Guardado 8-15 0-0 17 Vasquez-Bautista 2-8 2-2 6 Wills 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-56 4-5 31.
3-Point Shooting: North Montgomery 2-13 (Bl. Nichols 2-8, Bradford 0-4), Frankfort 1-10 (Guardado 1-1, Vasquez-Rivera 0-4, Santos-Valdez 0-4).
Rebounding: North Montgomery 39 (Ramey 18, Bradford 5, Norman 4), Frankfort 40 (Flores 12, Guardado 8, Vasquez-Bautista 7).
Turnovers: North Montgomery 24, Frankfort 21.
Fouled out: Ramey
