North Montgomery girls basketball was in a state of flux for most of the season a year ago. Numerous different girls in and out of the lineup saw the Chargers with a fourth place finish in the Girls Sugar Creek Classic.
Today the Chargers will take on host Western Boone in game number two of the 15th annual Sugar Creek Classic which will take place 20 minutes after the conclusion of Southmont and Crawfordsville in game one.
Early this season the Chargers were tested by their first two opponents in Parke Heritage and Bethesda Christian and dropped both contests. The Chargers learned lessons from both of those matchups and since have rallied off three straight wins and have plenty of momentum heading into today.
“It’s nice to be able to carry that momentum heading into what we believe is going to be a very competitive tournament,” Charger coach Ryan Nuppnau said. “We were able to build off of our mistakes and weaknesses from those two early losses. We’ll have to continue to build off some of our weaknesses and fine tune a few things heading into the weekend.”
The host Stars have only been able to play a single game so far this season, a 50-33 win over Covington on Tuesday. Nuppnau is hopeful the five games the Chargers have played will be towards their benefit.
“I think we’ll have the edge in terms of conditioning and experience a little bit,” he said. “They (Western Boone) have a new coach but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what the other team does, it matters what we do. If we play together, and play hard, and smart, I feel very confident in these girls ans in the tournament.”
North Montgomery will be led by the senior duo of Madi Welch and Katie Rice. Rice has scored in double figures in four of the five Charger games and the one game she didn’t, Welch was there to pick up the slack. The Chargers also surround Rice and Welch with seniors Lydia Dugard and Hadley Broadwater. Nuppnau would want nothing more than to see those seniors cap off their careers with a Sugar Creek Classic title.
“The Classic is one of their goals,” he said. “This would something real rewarding for those girls who’ve put in the hard work and time over their careers.”
Not only will the Chargers be looking for a successful outing, but they get the chance to see two teams they will play later in the season, including a county rival on Saturday.
“This is a great chance for us to see what we’re made of,” Nuppnau said. “We’re also looking at bigger picture down the road and use this as gauge into what we could maybe do in the sectional with a big stage type feel to it.”
