LINDEN — For three quarters, North Montgomery’s defense was the force on the floor.
In the last quarter, however, it was Seeger, and the Patriots ended the Chargers season in the first round of the 2A Sectional 37 tournament with a 49-43 win.
They also were white-hot at the free throw line, going 12-of-16 in just that last eight minutes. After not shooting a single free throw in the first half, Seeger was 19-of-24 in the second.
They erased a 34-23 deficit at the start of the fourth, and between the free throws, the six field goals and the defense, they took the win to move to 12-11 on the season. It is the second win over the Chargers at North this season. The Chargers’ season ends at 8-15.
“Give Seeger a lot of credit,” North coach Chad Arnold said after the game. “Both teams played hard and with a lot of heart. They got to a few more 50-50 balls than us and they turned us over too many times. We only had four turnovers in the first half and two of those were offensive fouls. We just never gave them any live ball possessions. They got some in the second.”
That number was eight forced turnovers by Seeger in that second half and 10 points scored as a result. The Chargers did not score a point off a turnover in the second half after a dozen in the first. The Patriots had only three turnovers in the second half.
“We played really good defense in the first half,” Arnold noted. “Every guy stepped up. Then they sped us up in the second half and made all those free throws when we had to foul.”
Aside from the first bucket of the game, North led and were up 11 at the start of the last quarter.
The Patriots run started there, and they scored a dozen straight to take the lead with 2:50 left.
Another bucket made it a three-point margin, and the Chargers had to extend the game by fouling.
Seeger responded by basically never missing. Their last 12 points all came from the stripe, as they at one point had hit 13 straight. They maintained the lead and advance to Friday.
Kelby Harwood closed his North Montgomery basketball career with 21 points.
The senior, who led the Sagamore Conference in scoring, finishes his North career with 1,179 points, which ranks fourth in North Montgomery only history and 17th in Montgomery County annals. He played in his 90th game, and finished with a 13.1 ppg career scoring average.
Colton Arnold finished with nine points on three treys, while senior Cameron Enlow added eight points.
The Chargers were 15-of-37 from the field, 4-of- 11 from deep and 9-of-14 from the line. Harwood had a team-best eight rebounds as North won the rebound battle 27-23.
The Patriots had three in double figures, starting with Jake Salts and his 13 points. The sophomore was 8-of-10 from the line in the fourth quarter.
Fellow soph Garrett Cooksey had 12, while senior Tyler Harris had 11, nine in the fourth quarter.
Seeger was 13-of-31 from the field, 4-of-10 from long range, and the 19-of-24 from the line.
The loss also means the end of careers for five North Montgomery players, as Harwood, Enlow, and fellow seniors Cam Claycomb, Caden Ireland and Nick Hurliman suited up for the last time.
“We got better as the season went on, and that was due in large part to those five seniors,” Arnold said. “Kelby was simply the best player in the conference, and all five of these guys played great defense and were even better teammates. Enlow and Claycomb were great shooters, and Ireland worked so hard to come back tonight after missing time with a concussion. Nick and all the guys were so coachable and I enjoyed coaching them, most for all four years. They are going to go on and be great men and very successful. We wish them so much good fortune. I think Ireland is going to become a pastor someday, so we will see. We wish them all well.”
The Patriots move on to face Benton Central Friday in the semifinals of the North sectional. Western Boone and Rensselaer Central face off in the second semifinal.
