LINDEN — For the fourth time this season the North Montgomery girls’ basketball team held an opponent to less than 30 points on its way to a 41-28 win over visiting Fountain Central.
The Chargers, who moved to 5-3 on the season, jumped out to an 11-6 lead after the first quarter and never trailed after that point.
“We did a lot of things well,” North Montgomery coach Ryan Nuppnau said. “We had a lot of good help and made it tough of them to score.”
That was especially true inside as the Chargers clogged the middle whenever the ball was thrown inside. Fountain Central’s top two inside players were limited to two points and shot a combined 1-of-18.
“We just can’t find ways to score,” Mustangs’ coach Tom Anderson said. “Defensively, we didn’t do a bad job. I told the girls we are playing well enough to win defensively, but we have to shoot better and find ways to score points. We work on it every day but we just have to do better.”
For the game the Chargers limited the Mustangs to 25 percent shooting (12-of-47) and that included just 2-of-14 from 3-point range.
Offensively the Chargers continued to improve. Six of the seven girls who played scored and Grace McClaskey led the team with 14 points and was followed by Katie Rice’s 10.
“Grace is really becoming the complete package,” Nuppnau said. “In the (Sugar Creek) Classic she was the lock-down person on defense and tonight she showed she can score. We have been wanting her to shoot the ball more for two years now and she has gotten to the point where is has more confidence and isn’t afraid to shoot.”
The Chargers also got some quality minutes from senior Sidney Zachary off the bench.
“Sidney is a competitor,” Nuppnau said. “She will do whatever you ask her to do. She knows her role and plays it very well. She is not going to hurt you and she keeps playing better and better each game. That is huge as we have some injuries and when Katie or Emily (Sennett) needs a break we know she can go in and we won’t miss a beat.”
The Chargers also moved the ball well on offense as nearly every basket had an assist. That’s another area the Chargers have been working hard on.
“We are trusting each other more and more,” Nuppnau added. “I love the unselfishness on this team. They are believing in one another and know that on any given night anyone out there can score. They don’t care who scores and that just makes the offense work that much better.”
Dakota Borman led the Mustangs in scoring with 13 points, while Marley Massey and Jerzi Hershberger each added five.
The Chargers will be trying to tie its best start since the 2017-18 season (when they began 6-3) when it entertains Faith Christian on Tuesday. Fountain Central (1-5) will travel to Delphi on Tuesday.
North Montgomery 41, Fountain Central 28
Fountain Central 6 7 7 8 - 28
North Montgomery 11 10 13 7 - 41
Fountain Central (1-5) – Massey 2-3 0-0 5, Hershberger 2-7 1-2 5, Borman 6-14 1-5 13, Oswalt 1-12 0-0 2, Foxworthy 0-6 0-0 0, Sanders 0-1 0-0 0, Sandlin 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 12-47 2-7 28.
North Montgomery (5-3) – Welch 1-5 3-4 6, Moseley 1-5 0-0 2, McClaskey 5-9 2-3 14, Rice 5-10 0-0 10, Sennett 2-6 1-3 5, Zachary 2-2 0-0 0. Total 16-37 6-10 41.
3-Point shooting: FC 2-15 (Massey 1-2, Hershberger 0-3, Borman 0-3, Oswalt 0-3, Foxworthy 0-1, Sandlin 1-3; NM 3-10 (Welch 1-4, Moseley 0-1, McClaskey 2-3, Sennett 0-2)
Rebounds: FC 22 (Borman 6, Oswalt 3); NM 43 (Sennett 11, Welch 7, Rice 6)
Fouls: FC 11; NM 10
Turnovers: FC 14; NM 25
Junior Varsity score: Fountain Central 18, North Montgomery 5 (2 quarters)
