In the Sugar Creek Classic, neither team would choose to play in the consolation game, but it’s which team is able to come out and respond from a loss that usually determines the winner. North Montgomery and Western Boone squared off in that consolation game and from the opening tip it was a different looking Charger team that came to play. The Chargers led by as many as 22 points and cruised to a 50-33 win over the Stars to end the 17th Sugar Creek Classic on a high note.
Jarrod Kirsch drilled a pair of threes to end the first quarter which saw North lead 11-7. Then the Charger offense picked up the pace out-scoring WeBo 19-7 to take a 30-14 lead into halftime. North’s defense played some of the best defense it’s played all season and tied a season-low in points allowed as well.
“I saw tonight what I’ve been seeing in practice all week,” Charger coach Chad Arnold said of his teams’ bounce back win. “We executed the game plan so much better than against South and it showed. Our offense had movement and life to it that we haven’t seen in sometime. We were much more patient and waited for the right opening but the number one thing is we competed and that’s what us coaches ask of these guys every game.”
Kirsch led the way for the Chargers with 13 points in the win as seven different Chargers found their way into the scoring column. Cam Enlow made three of his four threes to score nine, Kelby Harwood scored seven, both Noah Hopkins and Jack Warren scored six, Colten Arnold five, and Ross Dyson four.
A particular player that caught Arnold’s attention after the win was Warren who had the task of guarding the Stars leading scorer in Marcus Fortner. Not only did he hold Fortner to six points, but Warren led the Chargers with 11 rebounds.
“Jack just competed and played hard the entire night,” Arnold said. “He shut Fortner down and walled him up. You could tell that Jack wanted this game and when you have a guy like that, it makes your entire team better. Offensively too we caught passes in rhythm and were ready to shoot the ball. There’s a lot of things that go into making shots and when you do the things that we did tonight, it makes things a lot easier.”
For the game the Chargers shot 16-40 (40%) from the field and made 7-14 (50%) of their threes as Kirsch and Enlow each had three. North was 10-18 (55.5%) from the foul line, they grabbed 28 rebounds and committed just six turnovers.
Western Boone (2-8) was led by Gavin Hawkins’ 14 points. Both Fortner and Quinn Westerfield had six, Tristyn Faulk four, and Luke Adkins three. WeBo shot 12-37 (32%) from the field in the loss and just 4-15 (26%) from three and 5-11 (45%) from the foul line. They grabbed 30 rebounds and turned the ball over 12 times.
For their efforts in the two games, Kirsch and Hawkins were both named to the All-Tournament Team.
North Montgomery improves to 5-6 on the season with the win and the Chargers will have a tall task when they return to action at home on Friday. North will welcome the No.1 ranked team in Class 3A in the Danville Warriors for a Sagamore Conference showdown.
