LINDEN — North Montgomery was unable to keep pace with Lebanon on Wednesday night, falling to the Tigers 54-27 in a Sagamore Conference girls’ basketball tilt.
The Tigers forced 19 first half Charger turnovers and out-rebounded North Montgomery 17-13 over the first 16 minutes to take a 22-12 halftime lead.
“We lost the game with the defensive rebounding,” North Montgomery coach Ryan Nuppnau said. “They controlled the boards. They are quick, athletic, and can jump. Even though we had the size advantage, we were unable to get the boards and they had a lot of second-chance opportunities.”
Lebanon (10-7, 2-2 SAC) scored seven second-chance points in the first half, despite shooting just 9-of-32. North Montgomery (3-12, 1-4 SAC) failed to make a field goal in the second quarter, and shot just 9-of-23 for the game. The Tigers were 19-of-60 overall.
“Lebanon is a good team and I was excited to play them,” Nuppnau said. “With having girls getting healthy and getting legs underneath them, this is a good measuring stick and really see how well we can do. They pressed us early on, and that press didn’t really bother us.”
Many of the turnovers happened in the half-court, and then Lebanon started making shots in the second half, and the Chargers were unable to make a comeback. The Tigers made six second half 3-pointers as Lyla Barr scored 16 of her game-high 24 points over the final two quarters. Lebanon outscored North Montgomery 18-7 in the third period to blow things open.
Madi Welch led the Chargers with seven, while Katie Rice added six.
North Montgomery will host North Vermillion on Tuesday.
