LINDEN — North Montgomery outscored Attica 33-17 in a come from behind 50-45 win over the Red Ramblers on Friday night.
Trailing 28-17 at the half, the Chargers doubled up Attica 22-11 in the third quarter and took their first lead since early in the second quarter at 43-41 with 6:23 to play in the game on a Piper Ramey bucket before icing the game away with free throws from Ramey and Macee Norman.
“It was a great team effort,” North Montgomery coach Ryan Nuppnau said. “We came back out in the second half after being down and made some adjustments and we had some girls step up in big situations and it was great to see this for the girls.”
Ramey overcame early foul trouble by scoring 10 of her 15 points in the second half, but the player of the game label belonged to Norman.
The freshman scored a game-high 22 points, including 13 in the third quarter.
“Macee Norman had a great night and really stepped up in the second half,” Nuppnau said. “Each and every day and each and every game she’s getting more and more comfortable. Heck she’s only a freshman, and she’s going to figure out what she can and can’t do at the varsity level. Going from eighth-grade to varsity is a huge jump.”
Norman was 10-of-11 from the free throw line, helping the Chargers to a 16-of-20 (80%) effort from the stripe.
“And she’s a hard worker,” Nuppnau continued. “She’s watched more hours of film than any other player on the team. She’s a student of the game, she works hard at her craft, and excited to see what she can do the rest of the year.”
Attica led 37-28 with 3:33 to go in the third quarter, before North Montgomery ended the period on an 11-2 run. Ramey then scored six-straight points in the fourth quarter to tie the game and give the Chargers the lead.
The Red Ramblers shot 11-of-19 (58%) from the field in the first half, but were just 7-of-23 (30%) in the second half. North Montgomery connected on 17-of-49 (35%) field goals for the game.
The Chargers out-rebounded Attica 24-9 in the second half and 39-22 for the game.
“We challenged the girls at halftime about blocking out and getting those chances,” Nuppnau said.
Adyson Goodwin led Attica with 16 points, while McKenna Massey scored 12, and Aleah Cruz chipped in 11. Madison Banta added seven for the Chargers.
North Montgomery improves to 1-3 and will host Sagamore Conference foe Frankfort on Tuesday, while Attica is 1-1 and travels to Tri-County Tuesday.
