OXFORD - North Montgomery had one of their best shooting nights of the season at Benton Central Thursday night. The problem the Chargers bad was not enough shots as the Chargers fell 49-40. ]
The Bison had 49 attempts compared to North’s 33. North (5-13) connected on 15 of 33 shots including 4 out of 10 from the three-point line.The Bison meanwhile made 19 out of 49 shots including 9-30 from behind the arch.
Charger Coach Chad Arnold said his squad’s offensive execution was a difference maker“We have to get more shots”, Arnold said. “We just aren’t executing the offense.”
After tailing 11-10 after one quarter Benton Central (13-5) had their best quarter by outscoring North 19-9 to take a 27-19 lead at the break. During the quarter the Bison had an 11-0 run midway through quarter. North responded with a 7-0 run themselves to close out the first half.
The Chargers did have opportunities to close the gap in the second half but just couldn’t score when they needed to.
One problem all night for North Montgomery was giving up offensive rebounds. Of the Bison’s 26 caroms, 12 were on the offensive glass. Three of the offensive rebounds came in the last three minutes of the game on front-end misses from the free throw line. The lack of gathering the crucial rebounds made it even more difficult for the visitors.
“We played hard and we fed up with only turnovers after having six in the first quarter”, Arnold said. “Benton Central is a good team and I am proud how we battled.”
The Bison out-rebounded the Chargers 26-24.Jarrod Kirsch led North Montgomery with 14 points and Kelby Harwood added 12. Drew Norman scored 6 points and Nate McCoy s ores 4 points. Gabe Shirar had 3 points and Ross Dyson contributed 2 points.
Benton Central’s Hunter Sisson led all scorers with 16 and Aaron Lambeck added 13.
North Montgomery’s next game is February 10 at Frankfort. Benton Central will travel to Rensselaer next Thursday.
