THORNTOWN — It was Throwback Night as North Montgomery’s boys and girls basketball teams played Western Boone at the Thorntown Elementary Gym, the long-ago home of the Thorntown Keewasakees.
The Stars had the upper hand in both games, as they defeated the Chargers 37-34 in the girls’ game and then added an 82-77 overtime win in the boys contest.
There was a historical moment in the newly renovated “old” gym, as North’s Kelby Harwood became the newest member of the 1,000-point club. The senior’s first bucket put him at 1,000 and he didn’t stop there, finishing with 33.
GIRLS FALL ON COLD SHOOTING NIGHT
“You can’t win if you don’t make any shots,” said North coach Ryan Nuppnau, which summed up the Chargers loss in the girls game.
Shooting 24 percent, the visitors had to play come from behind the entire second half, and with very few shots going down, they got close but never got the lead back.
“There were also four missed free throws in the fourth quarter that really hurt,” Nuppnau said. “We got back close with a little different grouping of players. I told the girls that we needed to make something happen and they almost did.”
A 10-0 run got the Chargers back to within one point at 30-29, but the Stars scored seven of the last nine to secure the win, which moves WeBo to 8-14 overall and 3-4 in the Sagamore Conference.
North falls to 14-9 as the regular season ends and they finish their last Sagamore season with a 2-5 mark.
Piper Ramey led the scoring for the Chargers with 10 points. Lilly Graham and Sophie Welshimer each hit a pair of three-pointers to finish with six apiece. North was 13-of-54 from the field and 6-of-28 from long range. They were 2-of-8 from the line.
The Stars were led in scoring by Ally Lewis. The sophomore had 12 points and was one of three WeBo players with nine rebounds. Ramey led North with nine. WeBo had a
Both teams took good care of the ball, as WeBo had seven and the Chargers had 11.
It just came down to shots not falling.
The two teams could play again this week in the Rensselaer 2A sectional.
The Chargers have Delphi on Tuesday, and with a win, will tangle with the Stars again in the semifinals. WeBo drew a bye.
“We have a good sectional draw,” Nuppnau said, “and we have a chance for revenge in both games, because Delphi beat us by four in December at their place and we lost to WeBo at their place. We like to think we can get a little revenge.”
BOYS LOSE IN OT
There were moments to remember in the boys game.
Harwood’s first basket, coming with 4:02 left in the first quarter, put the senior at 1,000 career points.
He becomes the 17th player in North history, back to Gary Smith of Coal Creek/Wingate in 1954, through all-time county leading scorer Daryl Warren in 1971 to Justin Clary, the last Charger to eclipse 1,000 points in 2018.
He finished with 33 on the night, which jumped him a dozen spots in the all-time scoring list.
“It’s an incredibly proud moment,” Harwood said, surrounded by many picture-taking family members and friends. “I think back through my high school years, and I always had this as a goal, but I have to thank all the coaches and teammates who were a part of all this.”
The problem for the Chargers is that they were down 6-0 when Harwood hit his shot, and they would fall behind by as many as 13 in the second quarter.
They extended the game by sending WeBo to the line time and time again, and the Stars struggled from the stripe, and North inched back closer.
Which brings up the next memorable moment.
Another missed WeBo free throw with only a second left bounced off the rim, and Cameron Enlow grabbed it, took one step and fired the ball the length of the floor.
It went in, the North crowd went crazy, the Stars fans stood in silent disbelief, and the game was headed for overtime, tied for the first time all night, at 67.
The ongoing fouling cost the Chargers, however, as two starters and a regular sub all had fouled out during the fourth quarter, and there were subs pressed into action.
The Stars came up with a three to start the extra period, then hit a lot of their free throws, and engineered two huge steals, to win the game. They move to 4-10 overall, 2-5 in the Sagamore, and avenge a Sugar Creek Classic loss.
North falls to 4-11 and 0-5 in the league.
“We just didn’t guard well enough, from start to finish,” Chargers coach Chad Arnold said, “and that is disappointing because we have been playing good defense recently.”
The Chargers were led by Harwood’s 33, while Enlow added 18, with 15 in the second half and OT.
North was 27-of-44 from the line, 10-of-22 from deep, and 7-of-14 from the line.
The Stars were led by Quinn Westerfeld with 29 and Gavin Hawkins with 25. They were 27-of-47 from the field, 8-of-17 from long range and 20-of-41 from the line.
“First, I want to congratulate Kelby (Harwood) on reaching 1,000 points,” said Stars coach Dustin Oakley. “It is certainly something to be proud of. I am extremely proud of my team and their effort tonight. If we hadn’t shot the free throws so poorly, this wouldn’t have gotten to overtime, but we controlled the ball very well, as seven turnovers would show. We put the ball in the right hands and they got a lot of help from their teammates. We have been scoring better than 60 three of our last four games, and I like our direction. I also want to extend a thanks to our Western Boone administration for setting up this throwback night, and special thanks to all the Thorntown Elementary folks who opened their doors for us. They just finished a renovation and remodeling, and everything looks great. They put in a lot of extra work, and we appreciate it.”
The Stars have Crawfordsville on Feb. 6
North has a trip to Benton Central on the 6th.