VEEDERSBURG – It might not have been a thing of beauty, but Crawfordsville’s 53-43 win over Fountain Central had both head coaches feeling somewhat good about the game.
For Crawfordsville, Coach Tyler Smith was glad to see his team get its first win in four outings.
“I told the girls I was proud with the they battled and wanted it,” he said. “We might not have played the best, but when it came down to crunch time we did what we had to do in order to get the win and that’s what matters right now.”
What that meant was the Athenians (1-3) turned into the aggressor down the stretch, took care of the basketball and hit its free throws.
Clinging to a 41-40 lead with 3:41 to play the Athenians got a free throw from Shea Williamson to push the lead to 42-40 and then the next time down the floor the play of the game was turned in by senior Lauren Kellerman.
Kellerman drained the team’s only three-pointer of the second half and was fouled and when she hit the ensuing free throw the Athenians had its largest lead of the game since it led 12-2 early in the first quarter.
“Lauren’s big three was critical,” Smith said. “She has been struggling early in the season and for her to have the confidence and step up and take that shot was huge.”
The senior also hit a lay-up at the buzzer to give the Athenians a 31-29 halftime lead and led the Athenians with 17 points.
Crawfordsville also put the game away by hitting 7 of 9 from the foul line in the fourth quarter and by committing just two turnovers, while forcing 10.
“We were able to step up and hit our free throws,” Smith said. “We are a good free throw shooting team and tonight we showed that.”
For the night the Athenians were 19 of 26, including 15 of 19 in the second half.
In addition to Kellerman’s 17 points, Williamson added 13 and Megan Simmons added 12.
For the Mustangs (1-3) the outcome wasn’t what they were looking for, but the fight and grit was.
“I was very proud of the way we battled,” Mustang coach Tom Anderson said. “We got down 12-2 and then battled back and it was a very tight game until the last few minutes. They made the big 3-pointer and hit some free throws. It seemed like half their points came from the foul line.”
The Mustangs were able to pound the ball inside and hurt the Athenians in the paint and on the board.
With Gracie Foxworthy leading the way, the Mustangs won the battle of the board 50-41 and seven of 16 Mustang baskets in the game were offensive rebound put-back baskets.
“We want to pound the ball inside,” Anderson said. “That’s what we do best. I thought we battled on the board really well tonight.”
Foxworthy led the Mustangs with 14 points and Dakota Bormann added 13 points. Both ended with double-doubles as Foxworthy had 11 board and Bormann added 10.
Crawfordsville will battle Southmont in the first round of the Sugar Creek Classic Thursday at North Montgomery. Fountain Central travels to Carroll on Saturday.
Crawfordsville 53, Fountain Central 43
Crawfordsville 12 11 16 14 — 53
Fountain Central 8 13 15 7 — 43
Crawfordsville – Reed 0-4 0-0 0, Simmons 6-14 0-1 12, Kellerman 5-16 6-7 17, Williamson 2-8 9-13 13, Sinnett 1-7 0-0 2, McCarty 1-3 2-2 4, Kincaid 0-1 0-1 0, Hutchens 1-3 2-2 5. Totals 16-56 19-26 53
Fountain Central – Massey 0-0 0-0 0, Hershberger 1-4 0-0 2, Borman 4-22 5-7 13, Oswalt 1-5 0-0 2, Foxworthy 5-12 4-5 14, Sanders 1-3 0-0 2, Eades 1-4 4-6 6, Sandlin 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 16-54 13-19 43
3-Point Shooting – CHS 2-8 (Hutchens 1-2, Kellerman 1-2, Simmons 0-1, Sinnet 0-3); FC 0-6 (Borman 0-2, Foxworthy 0-2, Eades 0-1, Sandlin 0-1)
Rebounds – CHS 41 (Sinnett 6, Reed 5, Simmons 5, Kellerman 5, Williamson 5, McCarty 3, Hutchens 4, Team 8); FC 50 (Foxworthy 11, Borman 10, Hershberger 7, Oswalt 5, Sanders 4, Sandlin 3, Massey 1, Team 8)
Fouls – Crawfordsville 21; FC 21 (Hershberger)
Turnovers – CHS 14; FC 25
JV score _ CHS 34, FC 22
