LINDEN — An inside presence led Fountain Central past a shorthanded North Montgomery 44-25 on Saturday afternoon in girls’ basketball.
“We wanted to make sure we got the ball inside every chance we could,” Fountain Central coach Jason Good said. “We’ve talked a lot about becoming a better rebounding team over the last few days as well. We can still improve in that area, especially on the defensive end.”
The Mustangs (1-2) outrebounded the Chargers (2-6), who were lacking at the forward position just 23-20, but post players Larissa Bowers and Dakota Borman led all scorers with 14 points apiece to give Fountain Central its first win of the season.
“It feels good to crack the win column,” Good said. “We’ve had a long time to practice so far this season. It’s nice to see some of those things that we’ve worked on in practice come to fruition. When we are patient on the offense side of the ball we were able to find pretty good success.”
North Montgomery was once again forced to play four of their five starters the entire game and sophomore Madison Banta was inserted into the starting lineup with Lydia Dugard unavailable.
“It’s been a long and grueling week for us,” North Montgomery coach Ryan Nuppnau said. “Despite being shorthanded we never gave up and fought hard the entire game. There’s a lot of teaching that’s going on in the game since girls are being asked to play different roles. I still think that what we’re going through right now will pay off in the long run.”
Nina Gable led the Chargers with seven points. Madi Welch and Hadley Broadwater each had six.
Through all the adversity that comes in a normal season, the Chargers have been battling injuries to key players on top battling players being quarantined. Coach Nuppnau is just thankful that his team is getting the opportunity to play.
“It’s a blessing to go out and play each and every game,” he said. “You don’t know when your last game will be so you just have to go out and play like it will be your last. We talked about John Wooden’s definition of success a lot of late. If they went out and played to their full ability and gave full effort, that’s all I can ask for as a coach.”
The Chargers are scheduled to play their first Sagamore Conference game of the year on Tuesday when they travel to take on Tri-West.
The Mustangs will also open up Wabash River Conference play on Tuesday when they host Seeger.
